A Wolcott couple’s resources and initiative have spared a Wallingford telecom-repair business from the grim reaper.
When Missouri-based SoTel Systems LLC decided in late 2018 to close its telecommunications repair facility in the Harvest Business Park, the closing would have put a dozen employees out of work.
So employee Fraser Ward and his wife, Waterbury Regional Chamber President and CEO Lynn Ward, marshaled their savings, negotiated for financing and acquired SoTel’s Connecticut assets.
Now renamed ReWard Technologies LLC, the company remains in Harvest Park Building No. 4 at 101 North Plains Industrial Rd. in Wallingford. Not only was the business able to retain all dozen existing workers, it even managed to hire another worker as well. Lucky 13.
ReWard Technologies repairs and refurbishes telecommunications and data equipment and electronics. The work is all done by hand, said the Wards, in a 22,500-square-foot facility that has been its home since 1989.
Fraser Ward said his company is the authorized repair and refurbishment business for telecommunications manufacturers Aastra, Mitel, Octel, Toshiba, Vertical and Vodavi. Ward added that his shop is the only one in the U.S. authorized to repair Toshiba phones and circuit cards. ReWard also can repair computer servers, circuit boards, hub and switch equipment and other electronic devices, Ward said.
“We live in a disposable society, but why throw something away and buy new when it can be repaired and made like new?” Ward said.
Of the business the Wards likewise refurbished, “We fought to save it,” Fraser Ward said. “When the company told us they planned to close it and sell off the inventory, I said, ‘Sell it to me.’”
The Wards eventually worked out a deal to acquire the inventory, tools and repair equipment, as well as SoTel Systems’ customer list. They also negotiated a sub-lease for the existing location in Harvest Business Park.
ReWard Technologies will hold a ribbon-cutting at its Wallingford site to mark its official opening this Friday, Feb. 15, at 4 p.m.
Contact Michael C. Bingham at mbingham@newhavenbiz.com
