SoundOff Signal Celebrates 23 Years of Consecutive Growth with Groundbreaking Ceremony

SoundOff Signal has announced yet another company expansion. Groundbreaking on a new 27,000-square-foot addition to the company's Hudsonville, Mich., facility is anticipated to start at the end of June, and will be managed by Grand Rapids-based Pioneer Construction.

 Photo: SoundOff SignalPhoto: SoundOff Signal

SoundOff Signal has announced yet another company expansion. Groundbreaking on a new 27,000-square-foot addition to the company's Hudsonville, Mich., facility is anticipated to start at the end of June, and will be managed by Grand Rapids-based Pioneer Construction (www.pioneerinc.com).

This expansion will support SoundOff's anticipated growth and could potentially require additional exempt and non-exempt personnel. According to President and CEO, Mark Litke, "This new construction will enable us to more effectively meet the market demand for our continuous stream of innovative products introduced over the past several years. A recent acquisition of adjacent property at the company's Hudsonville location will enable SoundOff to effectively double its manufacturing footprint. The additional space will allow the company to continue its unprecedented pace of 23 years of consecutive growth as a leading designer and manufacturer of LED vehicle lighting and electronic equipment."

SoundOff originated as a manufacturer of high-quality safety solutions. The company's primary customers include police agencies, school bus manufacturers, and users of heavy duty road equipment. The company's mission is to provide safety solutions that protect the customers they serve.

George Boerigter, who serves as Chairman of the Board, transformed a small company into an organization that now supplies leading technology safety solutions throughout the United States and to 40 countries. Over the past 23 years, SoundOff has significantly increased staff size, improved employee benefits, avoided layoffs, and maintained a high employee retention rate while transitioning the company into a 32% employee owned ESOP position.

SoundOff Signal employs over 200 employees who utilize technology, processes, and a set of values as a foundation to their work:

  • Building Trust
  • A passion for Outstanding Customer Service
  • A "Get-it-Done" Attitude
  • An Entrepreneurial Spirit

"People often ask me, 'What do you make at SoundOff?'" says Litke. "My standard reply is 'relationships.' We focus on internal and external relationships based on our fundamental core values. Yes, we make high-quality innovative products that are competitively priced with exceptionally short lead-times — but at the end of the day, we are in the business of developing strong and lasting relationships."

"The company's winning formula, coupled with a passion to serve, is what drives our company to deliver solutions that create safer, more productive working environments to the markets we serve," says Phil VonTom, Director of Business Development and long-time company employee.

The company practices "Smart Design," a company term used to illustrate its problem-solving approach to bringing new safety products to market. Smart Design is an organic, problem-solving process of discovery, ideation, and experimentation. This approach has led to a number of "industry firsts" for the company.

SoundOff's initial emergency vehicle innovation brought modulation to vehicle headlights through the use of a heavy-duty flasher device. The flasher provides attention-grabbing conspicuity to notify motorists of an oncoming emergency vehicle. Affectionately known in the industry as the "wig wag" effect, this technology has since been embraced and universally adopted by all segments of the emergency vehicle market.

Since the introduction of the headlight flasher, SoundOff has had a series of additional innovative solutions.

In 2002, the company introduced the first LED warning lights to American manufactured school buses.

In 2008, the company received industry accolades for its Ghost light, an extremely bright yet compact and versatile product that resulted in SoundOff's industry leadership and global market reach. In 2010, SoundOff launched the Intersector Under Mirror Light, a solution designed to provide a unique, 180-degree vehicle profile illumination to signal approaching off-angle traffic at potentially dangerous intersections.

In 2014, SoundOff introduced its nForce Collection of Products, the first full-line, tri-color family of LED lighting products on the market, according to the company. nForce is designed to integrate functionally and aesthetically with today's evolving police vehicle designs.

The company commemorated its growth accomplishment on June 12 with the groundbreaking for its new building.

For more information visit www.soundoffsignal.com.

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