Jim D’Addario addressed the assembled dignitaries during the press conference.
With assistance from New York State, Suffolk County and the Town of Babylon, Long Island NY-based D’Addario & Company recently moved its carbon steel wire mill from Massachusetts to Farmingdale NY. By the end of the year, this project will have created approximately 30 new jobs on Long Island. On May 1, D’Addario hosted a tour and press conference in order to thank the state, county and town for their assistance. Dignitaries in attendance included Kenneth Adams, President & CEO of the Empire State Development Corporation; Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone; Babylon Town Supervisor Richard Schaffer; Bob Stricoff, CEO of the Babylon IDA; and Kyle Strober, LI Director for Senator Charles Schumer. Dan Ferrisi, Editor of The Retailer, was in attendance, as were numerous other members of the trade, newspaper and television media.
“Three years ago, D’Addario began research to move our struggling high carbon steel wire mill from Massachusetts to Farmingdale NY,” said Jim D’Addario, CEO of D’Addario & Co., Inc. “Without help from New York State, Suffolk County and the Town of Babylon, we could have never made this happen. We spent nearly $3 million of our own funds to reengineer the wire drawing and coating process, investing in all-new machinery and retrofitting one of our buildings at 540 Smith St. in Farmingdale.”
D’Addario proudly showcased its carbon steel wire mill, now located on Long Island NY.
Thanks to the relocation of this mill, D’Addario was able to invent the strongest and most stable music string on the market; the company will be proudly distributing this product in more than 120 countries around the globe. D’Addario is calling these new, premium-priced guitar strings D’Addario NYXL and the company’s launching them with an in-depth, intensely creative marketing campaign.
Besides the press conference and factory tour, D’Addario celebrated the unveiling of these revolutionary strings at a launch event at the Carle Place (NY) Guitar Center that evening. The event, which drew scores of music lovers and D’Addario enthusiasts, featured a rocking concert with performances by legendary guitarists Vernon Reid, Robben Ford, Oz Noy, Earl Slick, Alex Skolnick and Guthrie Trapp.
The factory tour illuminated the “magic” that goes on between D’Addario’s walls.
According to the company, the D’Addario NYXL launch will play out to be the most significant breakthrough in its more than 100-year history in New York. The wire is made in New York, the strings are wound and packaged in New York and the marketing was created in D’Addario’s new Williamsburg, Brooklyn creative office.
Clearly, made in the U.S.A.—and made in New York—remains viable, and D’Addario’s a company that’s showing the way.