Harris Corporation looks to grow in Lynchburg

The president of the corporation taking over Tyco Electronics’ wireless technology business in Lynchburg said on Friday that he hopes the local work force could grow as the company increases its market share.

Tyco Electronics announced on Thursday that it was selling its Wireless Systems business to Harris Corporation for $675 million in cash.

The Wireless Systems business is based in Lowell, Mass., and has about 600 employees in the Lynchburg area. It has been a major employer in the region for decades, growing out of General Electric’s radio division and GE’s later partnership with Ericsson.

Howard Lance, president and CEO of Harris Corp., visited Lynchburg on Friday to brief Tyco employees on their new company and the goals of the acquisition.

“Harris has been looking for ways to move into adjacent markets where we can leverage our technology,” Lance said in an interview before he spoke with employees at the Kirkley Hotel.

He said buying Tyco’s wireless business was the best way for Harris Corp. to tap into the market for wireless public safety communications systems. That market already amounts to $9 billion globally, and it is growing as systems need upgrades, Lance said.

He said that Harris has a much stronger focus on wireless communications, whereas Tyco Electronics has many other focuses. For that reason, he said he hopes the Tyco employees in Lynchburg find Harris Corp. as a home where they have a better place.

Harris Corp. officials did not focus much on the individual locations where Tyco’s wireless business operates, but they do not plan to move divisions around. “Our plan going in is to operate the business in the places where they are,” Lance said.

Lance said he wanted to use his visit to put people at ease and lay aside fears that the new company might not need as many employees. Harris Corp. hasn’t identified “any immediate redundancies,” Lance said. “This combination is about growth.”

“We hope they see this as an opportunity to create more than there is today,” he said.

Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for Harris Corp., said that Tyco employees’ benefits would remain “substantially the same.”

The media was not allowed in Lance’s group meeting with employees. Raimondi said the presentation would include sensitive information.

Based in Florida, Harris Corp. is a public company with more than $5 billion in annual revenues, according to a news release. It has more than 16,000 employees worldwide.

Harris Corp.’s stock closed at $28.78 on Friday, up 58 cents.