CommScope Celebrates its Catawba, N.C. Facility’s Golden Anniversary

Before there was a company called CommScope, there was the Superior Continental Corporation, a manufacturer of coaxial cable for small independent telephone companies. One of the products manufactured in Superior’s Catawba, N.C. facility, which opened in 1967, was a struggling product line called Comm/Scope. In 1976, Frank Drendel led a group of investors to acquire the Comm/Scope coaxial cable division from Superior and founded the company that today is known as CommScope in Hickory, N.C. Drendel focused his early efforts on the fledgling cable television industry. The CommScope coaxial cable produced in Catawba would later help change the face of the cable television industry. As it observes its 50th anniversary, the Catawba facility is the largest hybrid fiber-coaxial facility for broadband networks in the world. This ISO9001-certified 1 million-square foot facility employs more than 500 people and produces more than 344,000 miles of cable every year—enough to circle the earth more than 8 times. Employee longevity is a cornerstone to the facility’s success. The average year of service at Catawba is more than 20 years, with a total of more than 12,000 years of experience employed. Besides manufacturing innovative network solutions, Catawba is also proud of being “green.” Established in 1988, the site’s award-winning ReelSmart Recycling Program enables CommScope to save more than 20,000 trees by reusing more than 100,000 cable reels every year.