Music Manufacturing
Jim Marks always enjoyed ham radio and often sought opportunities to learn more about audio equipment. He was working as a radio station engineer for Progressive Broadcasting when he heard of an opening at Crown International. He joined the company in 1970 as a service repair technician and his...
Mark Darnell, as a musician, often wondered about the inner workings of the microphones he used, so he set out to learn more and in 1992 was asked to join the Crown International team in the customer service department covering the company’s microphone products. He soon became an expert on the...
Brenda Mortimer worked for Crown International in Elkhart, Indiana for 36 wonderful years. Her mother and aunt both worked in the factory, so Brenda grew up understanding and appreciating the family centric culture in the company. She began in 1981 as a wire cutter but soon advanced, becoming a...
Verne Searer began working part-time for Crown International in 1963. He left to earn his engineering degree at Purdue and returned to Crown in 1970. He stayed nearly twenty more years with the company in several positions including as a technician, engineer, the Director of Engineering, and the...
Tom Szerencse worked his way up to an Engineering Group Manager overseeing Crown International’s design prototyping efforts. In the mid 80’s his team worked with the Marketing department to define new products that would solve customer requirements. Then later he moved to manufacturing as a...
Mary Miller interviewed for a factory job with the founder of Crown International, Clarence Moore. Mary recalled that day in 1966 as the interview was long, but it gave her a chance to understand the company and its values. She left for a year but returned in 1968 and stayed until her retirement in...
Dave McLaughlin began his long career with Crown International as a part time employee in 1968. He later went to college and earned an electrical engineering degree and returned to Crown. He worked alongside famed engineer Gerry Stanley helping with the circuit boards for the DC300 Amps. He also...
Ken Woodcox was an early adopter of computer technology when he proudly joined Crown International in the 1970s. Bringing his skill set to Crown and having the company embrace computers resulted in faster customer service and a wider global reach. Ken became the Sales Manager for the Western United...
Steve Peer has a very interesting take on the 1971 fire that destroyed the Crown International factory in Elkhart, Indiana. Steve just joined the company a few months before the Thanksgiving Day fire but was told the factory started in two chicken coops. Over the years the factory was expanded a...
Alan Fox’s father played in the symphony orchestra in Fort Wayne, Indiana before being drafted for service in World War I. After the war, he began making reeds and in 1923 joined the Chicago Symphony as the bassoonist. He formed Fox Music, making bassoons, in 1949 and ten years later Alan, who was...