Ensign-Bickford Company
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The company's headquarters in Simsbury, CT. | |
EBA-D | |
Founded | Simsbury, CT, USA (1836) |
Founder | William Bickford |
Headquarters | Simsbury, Connecticut, United States |
Number of locations | 3 Locations (2017) |
Key people | Brendan Walsh, President & CEO |
Parent | Ensign-Bickford Industries |
Subsidiaries | NEA Electronics |
The Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company (formerly The Ensign-Bickford Company) is a manufacturer of hardware and energetic systems for use in spacecraft, military, and industrial applications. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ensign-Bickford Industries.
History
The Ensign-Bickford Company (EBCo) was started in 1836 in Simsbury, Connecticut as a manufacturer of William Bickford's safety fuse for use in mining. Safety fuse was a great advance in mining technology over the practice of filling holes with black powder.
The next step in mining technology was detonating cord. Ensign-Bickford and other companies developed different versions of detonating cord. In 1937, Ensign-Bickford trademarked "Primacord"[1] , which became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. In May 2003, Ensign-Bickford sold the trademarks and processes to Dyno Nobel Inc[2] of Australia (formerly of Norway).
In 1956, EBCo began providing research and development work for Frankford Arsenal and Sandia National Laboratories to develop linear shaped charge, a product critical to the early strategic missile and launch vehicle programs. In 1965, the Space Ordnance Division was formed, making contributions to early NASA programs such as Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. In 1987, the Space Ordnance Division became Ensign-Bickford Aerospace Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of EBCo, later becoming The Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company.
In 2008, EBA&D acquired Shock Tube Systems, and in 2010 acquired SDI Defense and Aerospace and NEA Electronics.[3]
Locations
In addition to its headquarters and manufacturing operations in Simsbury, CT, EBA&D has manufacturing facilities in Graham, KY and Moorpark, CA. Subsidiary NEA Electronics is located within EBA&D's Moorpark site.
References
External links
- Corporate website
- The Talk of Simsbury: Ensign Bickford Industries - Interview with Tom Perlitz, President and CEO of Ensign Bickford Industries, Inc.
Coordinates: 41°52′07″N 72°48′22″W / 41.8687°N 72.806°W