Inside DeWitt company the White House touts as beneficiary of infrastructure bill
DEWITT, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — People who pass by the ordinary building on Molloy Road have no idea about what kind of manufacturing happens within the walls of PPC Broadband.
It’s a successful mix of old-school handmade craftmanship and modern robotic technology, making popular copper wire and new fiber that makes up the cabling of broadband.
PPC Broadband was founded as Products Production Company to support World War II efforts.
Ten years ago, the company was split by owner John Mezzalingua. His half became JMA Wireless, the company that now adorns Syracuse University’s Dome. The other half remained PPC Broadband, becoming a division of Belden, which has more subtly survived decades of decline in local manufacturing.
The company went from surviving to thriving.
Some credit goes to the COVID-19 pandemic’s forced expansion of internet, but Tuesday, Nov. 14, the White House touted its Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill for the growth since.
Vice President and General Manager Cary Mullin told NewsChannel 9, “This legislation has enabled us to re-shore a lot of our jobs, bringing jobs from Mexico, UK, China, back to the United States, here in Syracuse.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “One of the provisions I fought hardest for was called ‘Buy America,’ which said if you’re going to build new infrastructure, you have to buy products right here in the USA. I knew for broadband, Buy America means Buy Syracuse. I didn’t want the future of our internet to be made in China or Mexico.”
PPC Broadband’s growth can be seen by its job numbers, from 350 to 550 by 2024. Hundreds of jobs and hundreds of square feet of new manufacturing space.
The work is now split between the company’s Molloy Road headquarters and recently-added lines in a newly-renovated space of its warehouse down the street.
“We recently won the Disney properties,” explained Senior Director Dave Rahner. “Disney properties all use PPC MiniFlex to upgrade services in the rooms.”
High-profile customers of a low-profile company, continuing to grow.
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