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Draka rides 40 years of growing success AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to More 1Share to Facebook Share to Google+ Share to Twitter Share to Pinterest Share to Email Share to Print Draka Elevator Products has been expanding its operations for 40 years in Nash County. BY LAWRENCE BIVINS Special to the Telegram Monday, October 15, 2018 It's a company with Dutch roots and Italian parents. And its products are critical to the functioning of the world's most breathtaking trophy properties — like the 154-story Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world's tallest building. The company is Draka Elevator Products, and it calls Rocky Mount home. "The plant has been here for 40 years doing various things," says Sterrett Lloyd, president of Draka, which since 2011 has been a unit of Milan, Italy-based Prysmian Group. Together with an expanding distribution center in nearby the Battleboro community, Draka's growing presence in Nash County boils down to one critical factor. "This is a community that is dedicated to our success," Lloyd says. Lloyd arrived at Draka in 2001 after working in several elevator businesses in the Midwest. He also ran his family's Kentucky-based elevator company. "I'm a third-generation elevator man," says Lloyd, who is clearly in a good position to appreciate the location assets winning manufacturers count on. It starts with geography. "Rocky Mount is a great location for our business," Lloyd says. Convenient proximity to the northeastern U.S. — with its dense population of people, businesses and buildings — gives Draka ready access to its biggest market. "That's a big focus of our business," he adds. But one of the company's largest buyers is just 175 miles south in Florence, S.C., where Otis Elevator Co. has a manufacturing center. Convenient access to I-95 and Atlantic coast ports also keeps Draka connected globally. "We're actually the largest exporter in Nash County," Lloyd says. That means not just access to customers as far away as China but to reliable supplies of the raw materials Draka needs. "Rocky Mount is also a great location to get our materials in," he says. Though its production site may appear quiet on the outside, inside Draka's North Church Street facility is a 120-person workforce that is busy making elevator components. In addition to Otis, Draka's buyers include other marquee names like Schindler, Kone and ThyssenKrupp, as well as a host of smaller elevator companies. Draka's broad product portfolio includes solutions that make for a smooth, stable and energy-efficient ride. The company, founded in Amsterdam in 1910, built its reputation as provider of high-quality elevator cables. "Cables are now only about 50 percent of what we sell," Lloyd says. Cables begin at one end of Draka's plant as little more than copper strands. Working with sophisticated machinery, employees bind the strands into wiring that is braided into thick cable, encased and then wrapped around huge wooden spools. From there, products make a quick trip to Draka's 100-worker distribution center near I-95 where they await shipment to customers. Complementing its strategic location and strong transportation infrastructure are the exceptional human resources Draka can tap in Rocky Mount. "We have a very low turnover," Lloyd says of his company's workforce. Most employees have been with the company for the bulk of their careers. Lawrence Bivins is a business writer and consultant in Raleigh.
BY LAWRENCE BIVINS Special to the Telegram
Monday, October 15, 2018
It's a company with Dutch roots and Italian parents.
And its products are critical to the functioning of the world's most breathtaking trophy properties — like the 154-story Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world's tallest building.
The company is Draka Elevator Products, and it calls Rocky Mount home.
"The plant has been here for 40 years doing various things," says Sterrett Lloyd, president of Draka, which since 2011 has been a unit of Milan, Italy-based Prysmian Group.
Together with an expanding distribution center in nearby the Battleboro community, Draka's growing presence in Nash County boils down to one critical factor.
"This is a community that is dedicated to our success," Lloyd says.
Lloyd arrived at Draka in 2001 after working in several elevator businesses in the Midwest. He also ran his family's Kentucky-based elevator company.
"I'm a third-generation elevator man," says Lloyd, who is clearly in a good position to appreciate the location assets winning manufacturers count on.
It starts with geography.
"Rocky Mount is a great location for our business," Lloyd says.
Convenient proximity to the northeastern U.S. — with its dense population of people, businesses and buildings — gives Draka ready access to its biggest market.
"That's a big focus of our business," he adds.
But one of the company's largest buyers is just 175 miles south in Florence, S.C., where Otis Elevator Co. has a manufacturing center.
Convenient access to I-95 and Atlantic coast ports also keeps Draka connected globally.
"We're actually the largest exporter in Nash County," Lloyd says.
That means not just access to customers as far away as China but to reliable supplies of the raw materials Draka needs.
"Rocky Mount is also a great location to get our materials in," he says.
Though its production site may appear quiet on the outside, inside Draka's North Church Street facility is a 120-person workforce that is busy making elevator components. In addition to Otis, Draka's buyers include other marquee names like Schindler, Kone and ThyssenKrupp, as well as a host of smaller elevator companies.
Draka's broad product portfolio includes solutions that make for a smooth, stable and energy-efficient ride. The company, founded in Amsterdam in 1910, built its reputation as provider of high-quality elevator cables.
"Cables are now only about 50 percent of what we sell," Lloyd says.
Cables begin at one end of Draka's plant as little more than copper strands. Working with sophisticated machinery, employees bind the strands into wiring that is braided into thick cable, encased and then wrapped around huge wooden spools. From there, products make a quick trip to Draka's 100-worker distribution center near I-95 where they await shipment to customers.
Complementing its strategic location and strong transportation infrastructure are the exceptional human resources Draka can tap in Rocky Mount.
"We have a very low turnover," Lloyd says of his company's workforce. Most employees have been with the company for the bulk of their careers.
Lawrence Bivins is a business writer and consultant in Raleigh.