Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1539509
78 PCB007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2025 The logo was next. He had always liked the sim- plicity of the three downward-pointing triangles that formed the "M" in Motorola, one of the most recognizable logos of the time. Drawing from his drafting experience, he rotated the three triangles 90 degrees, reimagined the "M" into an "E," and replaced the hyphen with a lightning bolt between the two words. Electro-Tek Is Born With the funding in place, Dad resigned from Louis Allis and began to put together a list of equipment and find a building suitable for PCB manufacturing. Electro-Tek's first announcement was a one-page flyer that had an artist's render- ing of Dad's head with a few bullet points to high- light what they offered. Orders were placed for the major items like an etcher, scrubber, bottom drill, router, camera, complete darkroom set-up, shear, and a plating line for copper, solder, nickel, and gold. Partner CSB was associated with a company called Vin- cent Supply, which owned a two-story building on Michigan Street across from Marquette Univer- sity in downtown Milwaukee. Marquette students became a major source of early employees. The second floor was vacant and became the original Electro-Tek plant, but there were a couple of im- mediate obstacles. The first issue was that Vincent Supply was in the business of selling copper plumbing fittings, and we would be directly above them, destroying copper. The floor was wood and required putting in a reinforced, sealed sub-floor under the plating area in case of a leak. The plumber's union also proved problematic by insisting on glass plumb- ing and not allowing PVC.Dad hired a professional chemical engineer to make a case for the use of PVC, and the State of Wisconsin stepped in and fi- nally approved it. Electro-Tek became the first in- dustrial installation of PVC plumbing in Wisconsin. The early layout was not pretty, with the only walls being for the darkroom and a small office with a cot as Dad spent many evenings sleeping there during the beginning. As was typical for the time period, there was an ashtray on every desk: Mom and Dad were both smokers until Dad developed pulmonary embolisms in his legs. In hindsight, this was a blessing in disguise as they both had to quit smoking at a very young age. Dad had to reinvent himself once again to focus on building relationships and new business devel- opment (a skill set that would be pivotal to his ca- reer from this point forward, and one he quickly mastered and passed down to my brother Scott. Unfortunately, I did not inherit this gene). As with any startup, the early years were lean, and with apologies to my good friend Kevin Costner, who famously stated decades later, "If you build it, they will come," that apparently doesn't apply to PCB manufacturing. Our first customer and PO came from Rex Chain Belt (now Rexnord), followed by the three addi- tional anchor customers: McGraw Edison, Labora- tory Equipment, and Generac. This meant that he needed managers to oversee the manufacturing operations, and he first turned to a number of col- leagues from his prior employers, who understood manufacturing but not PCB technology. The com- pany really needed help in manufacturing and was able to hire away some PCB talent from the other local PCB shop to oversee operations. As produc- tion, quality, and technology were finally coming together, the company was on the rise, but with the typical startup overhead debt, would it be able to make a consistent profit? Next month: Read the conclusion of the Elec- tro-Tek and the Williams family story in the October issue of PCB007 Magazine. PCB007 Steve Williams is president of The Right Approach Consulting. He is also an independent certified coach, trainer, and speaker with the John Maxwell team. To read past columns, click here. T H E R I G H T A P P ROAC H Fun Fact #4: The current occupant of the original Electro-Tek building is Ogden Development Group, Inc., and Ogden was my maternal grandmother's maiden name.