Sony DADC is diversifying space, welcoming new companies
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTerre Haute’s Sony DADC plant was once the CD capital of the world, but it’s now putting itself on a new track toward medical device and semiconductor development.
With 1.3 million square feet of space, Sony is looking to diversify its production and is searching for other companies to fill its open manufacturing, warehousing and distribution space.
“I think the message to the community is, ‘Yeah, we’ve had some rough years. We’re still here,” Sony DADC Senior Vice President Chad Bolin told Business of Health Reporter Kylie Veleta. “And now we’re only going to continue to grow.”
Five companies and projects have moved in so far. Bolin said he hopes in five to seven years the plant will grow to 500-to-1,000 employees.
That facility once produced the first compact disc in North America and later over 23 billion CDs since 1983. It was the largest employer in the city with 2,000 workers.
However, as technology changed so did the industry, and thousands of workers were later laid off during a major downturn after 2010. About 90% of its workforce was let go in ten years. In 2022, Bolin said they were at their lowest numbers with about 200.
“We did have to go through a dramatic size reduction throughout the years,” Bolin said. “And it was very difficult because these were people that had bled Sony blue for a lot of years, and we just didn’t have the work there.”
The plant still produces PlayStation discs and packages consoles, which has kept the plant alive in its redevelopment.
But, it’s now seeing a rebirth in its diversification. Bolin said the goal is to not just lease the space but to bring in work their employees can do. They are evaluating the projects for the potential job creation opportunities they present, he said.
A pro of using their workers, Bolin said, is that they are already primed and ready to go for new companies. He said they know the pace and processes a new staff may not pick up or develop as quickly.
“How do we go through and fill the space with other diversification opportunities, something we’ve never done before, which means we have to become something we’ve never been before,” he said.
A significant piece for Sony is the 110,000-square-foot clean room that once made discs, for which they are targeting medical device makers and already has a tenet in the semiconductor industry. They believe they are strategically positioned geographically to be enticing to these manufacturers.