Expanding the core business
In 1984 Maureen Baldwin was working as the office manager for Russound’s sister company, S&H Precision Metal Forming. She handled all aspects of the office and had a firm understanding of how the company was run, including Russound.
Business had slowed down and sharing resources was no longer profitable for Russound and S&H. Recognizing Maureen’s keen business sense and interest in leading a company, Chuck Sicard and Anthony Hatch offered to sell her Russound.
Maureen accepted, and became the owner of Russound/FMP, Inc., a company with two full-time employees and yearly revenue of just under $100,000. Maureen continued to work her day job at S&H, and devoted the rest of her time to returning Russound to a lucrative audio business.
Throughout the second half of the 1980s, Russound refined the components and methods used to make audio products. Russound products quickly developed a reputation for being well constructed and robust for their rated performance values.
At the 1987 Winter Consumer Electronics Show, Russound debuted the ALT-1 Audio Line Attenuator, the precursor of our ALTx series of high-quality in-wall volume controls. Also shown was the AX-6 line-level input selector.
Driven by a need for more space at a reasonable price, Russound moved from Portsmouth to its current location in Newmarket, New Hampshire in 1988. At that time, the entire company took up just a portion of an office space in a building in an industrial park.
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Russound headquarters today |
Having introduced wall plate solutions in 1989, Russound entered the 1990s with strong sales of speaker selectors and volume controls. Infrared control products emerged in 1991. The first Russound loudspeakers, a series of five in-wall models, appeared in 1992 as the predecessors of our current Contractor Series. Ceiling speakers were added to the line in 1994. Maureen’s nurturing influence had changed the direction of the company from floundering to flowering.
As business grew, Joe Brouillet and Linda Mariotti were brought on board to assist with managing the company. Joe came to Russound as the Director of Sales and Marketing from a background in the telecommunications industry. Linda, an accountant and entrepreneur, started with the company as a consultant, and was eventually hired as an office manager. They proved to be positive influences in managing Russound’s growth. Both Joe and Linda are still with Russound as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.
