Comment Quantegy/Ampex - A little history (Score 1) 550
Quantegy:
The company and the man behind the tape that recorded the world
Tamiko Lowery
Staff Writer
Opelika-Auburn News
Thursday, January 6, 2005
In the beginning, it wasn't about the money - it was about the people, according to H.D. Norman.
Norman, 54, a native of Opelika and protege under John Herbert Orr - the mastermind behind Ampex, what is now Quantegy - remembers how Orr put Opelika on the map.
"Orr had an entrepreneurial spirit. He always said his education came from the school of hard knocks. Business men are not as they once were - they run things strictly by the bottom line," Norman said. "Orr never went to business school, he learned how to make things on his own. He was a visionary, a pioneer - ahead of his time. He could have taken his invention anywhere in the world but instead he brought it back to his own hometown - back to Opelika. He was a down-to-earth man. If you ever needed anything, he'd give it to you. He believed in treating everybody right."
Norman says Orr understood people which was why he was so successful.
In November 1995, the Ampex Recording Media Corporation was put up for sale, and the recording media pioneer became Quantegy Inc., according to www.quantegy.com.
But on Dec. 31, 2004, the Opelika plant shut its doors. A brief statement released by the company that day said that "Quantegy Inc. has ceased operations pending restructuring. This is due to financial issues that have plagued the industry and Quantegy for some time. All employees are on layoff pending further notice."
"I feel for the people who have lost their jobs. I would not want to be at the short end of that stick. The CEO was here for a day or so without knowing the people here; he'll just catch a plane in Atlanta and go home," Norman said. "To lose your job is hard enough but especially around the holidays - it's callous the way it was done. ... Orr did it for the community, to give back to the people. He knew it was the people who made the company. Orr knew the people and everything about the place. He knew which light bulbs needed changing, and when the toilet paper in the men's restroom ran out, he'd change it. He believed in the people first."
Orr died in 1984.
"I think if he were alive today, he would be very hurt," Norman said. "He used to smoke this big ol' cigar and if he didn't like somebody he'd fill that room with smoke to smoke 'em out. He'd be doing that now. He's buried down in Loachapoka, and I believe he's rolling over in his grave." Norman said the people, who worked for him, gave him faith in the company.
Deloris Waller, manager of the Alabama State Employment Services at Opelika Career Center, said hope is what they've tried to give to Quantegy employees who feel they have been forgotten.
"Monday at 8 a.m. there were 50 or so Quantegy employees waiting for doors to open," Waller said. "As of Wednesday there have been 120 come in, and they're still coming. The vast majority of them have worked there 25 years and up. They have been upbeat, as a whole, but they've got a lot of questions that only the company can answer. And I hope they get their answers soon."
Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller said during Tuesday's City Council meeting, "In a week to 10 days we should know more. They're working to restructure the plant and continue operations. We have our fingers crossed it will all work out."
Waller said any closing affects the community but is optimistic about the future with new industry coming in.
"Already there have been at least five local companies who have contacted us, even a company out of Georgia, indicating interest in these employees," Waller said. "We have given them all a packet of papers to bring back. Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday are all booked for appointments where small groups of employees will come in. There will be people from Montgomery here talking about how folks can survive layoffs and career links to talk about training. I feel for them. We've tried to provide for them the best we can."
Back in 1956, CBS network wanted only the best and looked to Orr, according to Norman.
"At one time, the nightly news had to be live. It couldn't be recorded. Orr made tape before he had tape machines," Norman said. "He worked day and night. CBS ordered 26 machines and in '59 Ampex bought the whole thing. The rest is history."
It has been said in Billboard Magazine that more money was made from the records sold from Ampex-mastered recordings than any other in the world, according to Norman.
Numerous famous recording artists have used Irish/Ampex/Quantegy Master Tape, according to Norman. Some of those include Elvis, Bing Crosby, The Beatles, Buddy Holly, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Chubby Checker, Johnny Cash, The Temptations, Ray Charles, Rolling Stones, The Four Tops, The Who, The Jackson Five, The Eagles, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Pink Floyd, Lionel Richie, Cher, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, Celine Dion, James Brown and Madonna.
"There is a great demand at the top of the recording industry. Every major studio by every major record label around the world depends on tape made by Quantegy," Norman said. "The pinnacle of the recording industry like RCA and Sony and top producers won't touch anything but analog. It's a mellow sound, warmer and more real, while digital is computer sampling, not real. Stars like Elton John require a warmer sound and won't use anything but analog. It is simply the last remaining superior master tape line. It's wide tape, 2 inches wide and open reel."
The government has long used products made by Quantegy.
"The government, like everybody else, has to bid on particular products and contracts," Norman said. "NASA depends on instrumentation tape to track all vital signs for space shuttles and satellites. That tape comes from Quantegy. Hard drives crash, but tape cannot crash; it runs from point A to point B."
Norman says it is beyond his comprehension to think the closing of Quantegy is the passing of so much history as well as generations of families who have made a life out of years of service to the company.
"I know what it was and could be again," he said. "The very top of the recording industry will use nothing else but master analog tapes. Quantegy is a potential gold mine. It has a monopoly - formulations Orr made, nobody else in the world has. It's a mindboggling thing to think of it being no more. There were boxes and boxes of tape all over the world stamped: made in Opelika, AL USA."
tlowery@oanow.com | 749-6271 ext. 3143
The company and the man behind the tape that recorded the world
Tamiko Lowery
Staff Writer
Opelika-Auburn News
Thursday, January 6, 2005
In the beginning, it wasn't about the money - it was about the people, according to H.D. Norman.
Norman, 54, a native of Opelika and protege under John Herbert Orr - the mastermind behind Ampex, what is now Quantegy - remembers how Orr put Opelika on the map.
"Orr had an entrepreneurial spirit. He always said his education came from the school of hard knocks. Business men are not as they once were - they run things strictly by the bottom line," Norman said. "Orr never went to business school, he learned how to make things on his own. He was a visionary, a pioneer - ahead of his time. He could have taken his invention anywhere in the world but instead he brought it back to his own hometown - back to Opelika. He was a down-to-earth man. If you ever needed anything, he'd give it to you. He believed in treating everybody right."
Norman says Orr understood people which was why he was so successful.
In November 1995, the Ampex Recording Media Corporation was put up for sale, and the recording media pioneer became Quantegy Inc., according to www.quantegy.com.
But on Dec. 31, 2004, the Opelika plant shut its doors. A brief statement released by the company that day said that "Quantegy Inc. has ceased operations pending restructuring. This is due to financial issues that have plagued the industry and Quantegy for some time. All employees are on layoff pending further notice."
"I feel for the people who have lost their jobs. I would not want to be at the short end of that stick. The CEO was here for a day or so without knowing the people here; he'll just catch a plane in Atlanta and go home," Norman said. "To lose your job is hard enough but especially around the holidays - it's callous the way it was done.
Orr died in 1984.
"I think if he were alive today, he would be very hurt," Norman said. "He used to smoke this big ol' cigar and if he didn't like somebody he'd fill that room with smoke to smoke 'em out. He'd be doing that now. He's buried down in Loachapoka, and I believe he's rolling over in his grave." Norman said the people, who worked for him, gave him faith in the company.
Deloris Waller, manager of the Alabama State Employment Services at Opelika Career Center, said hope is what they've tried to give to Quantegy employees who feel they have been forgotten.
"Monday at 8 a.m. there were 50 or so Quantegy employees waiting for doors to open," Waller said. "As of Wednesday there have been 120 come in, and they're still coming. The vast majority of them have worked there 25 years and up. They have been upbeat, as a whole, but they've got a lot of questions that only the company can answer. And I hope they get their answers soon."
Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller said during Tuesday's City Council meeting, "In a week to 10 days we should know more. They're working to restructure the plant and continue operations. We have our fingers crossed it will all work out."
Waller said any closing affects the community but is optimistic about the future with new industry coming in.
"Already there have been at least five local companies who have contacted us, even a company out of Georgia, indicating interest in these employees," Waller said. "We have given them all a packet of papers to bring back. Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday are all booked for appointments where small groups of employees will come in. There will be people from Montgomery here talking about how folks can survive layoffs and career links to talk about training. I feel for them. We've tried to provide for them the best we can."
Back in 1956, CBS network wanted only the best and looked to Orr, according to Norman.
"At one time, the nightly news had to be live. It couldn't be recorded. Orr made tape before he had tape machines," Norman said. "He worked day and night. CBS ordered 26 machines and in '59 Ampex bought the whole thing. The rest is history."
It has been said in Billboard Magazine that more money was made from the records sold from Ampex-mastered recordings than any other in the world, according to Norman.
Numerous famous recording artists have used Irish/Ampex/Quantegy Master Tape, according to Norman. Some of those include Elvis, Bing Crosby, The Beatles, Buddy Holly, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Chubby Checker, Johnny Cash, The Temptations, Ray Charles, Rolling Stones, The Four Tops, The Who, The Jackson Five, The Eagles, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Pink Floyd, Lionel Richie, Cher, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, Celine Dion, James Brown and Madonna.
"There is a great demand at the top of the recording industry. Every major studio by every major record label around the world depends on tape made by Quantegy," Norman said. "The pinnacle of the recording industry like RCA and Sony and top producers won't touch anything but analog. It's a mellow sound, warmer and more real, while digital is computer sampling, not real. Stars like Elton John require a warmer sound and won't use anything but analog. It is simply the last remaining superior master tape line. It's wide tape, 2 inches wide and open reel."
The government has long used products made by Quantegy.
"The government, like everybody else, has to bid on particular products and contracts," Norman said. "NASA depends on instrumentation tape to track all vital signs for space shuttles and satellites. That tape comes from Quantegy. Hard drives crash, but tape cannot crash; it runs from point A to point B."
Norman says it is beyond his comprehension to think the closing of Quantegy is the passing of so much history as well as generations of families who have made a life out of years of service to the company.
"I know what it was and could be again," he said. "The very top of the recording industry will use nothing else but master analog tapes. Quantegy is a potential gold mine. It has a monopoly - formulations Orr made, nobody else in the world has. It's a mindboggling thing to think of it being no more. There were boxes and boxes of tape all over the world stamped: made in Opelika, AL USA."
tlowery@oanow.com | 749-6271 ext. 3143
