The Atlas Copco Group is celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2013. Atlas Copco CEO Ronnie Leten marked the occasion by ringing the opening bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City’s Times Square on Feb. 21. The bell ringing signified the beginning of the day’s trading and the start of a year-long anniversary celebration for Atlas Copco. Maureen Ellis, an employee celebrating more than 40 years with Atlas Copco in the United States, joined Leten at the event, along with select customers and other company management and stakeholders.
Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Atlas Copco began with an idea in 1873 that the country should become more self-sufficient in railroad building. As the years passed however, development, technical innovations and competition drove the company to diversify its product portfolio. In the 1950s the first major strategic international acquisition was made with the purchase of Arpic Engineering, a Belgian compressor company.
The growth of Atlas Copco is also widely accredited to the founding Wallenberg family. It is said that without the family's belief in the company and its sometimes unorthodox decisions, Atlas Copco would probably not exist today.
“From our beginning in 1873 as a manufacturer of products for the railroad industry, we have expanded and adapted to hold world-leading positions in compressed air and gas equipment, construction and mining equipment, industrial tools and assembly systems,” said Jim Levitt, president of Atlas Copco North America. “The United States is the Group’s largest single market and North America contributes about one-fifth of our overall revenue. The best way to celebrate 140 years in business is to acknowledge the customers that make it possible. We sincerely thank each and every one of them for their business.”
Atlas Copco serves customers in more than 170 countries. The company first came to the U.S. in 1950. Today Atlas Copco has 109 locations in the U.S., representing 1.7 million square feet of manufacturing, production, distribution and office space, and employing more than 4,600 people.
As part of the anniversary celebration, Atlas Copco North America donated $60,000 to New York City-based “charity: water,” a global non-profit organization dedicated to bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. The donation brings Atlas Copco’s total charity: water giving to $161,000 since 2010, with the company’s employee-run Water for All organization donating more than $239,000 since the program’s inception. To learn more about Atlas Copco’s employee-run Water for All charity program, visit www.water4all.org/us/.
Atlas Copco North America in Parsippany, N.J., Construction and Mining Center in Commerce City, Colo., Atlas Copco Rental in La Porte, Texas, and Atlas Copco Tools and Assembly Systems in Auburn Hills, Mich., all held anniversary parties to celebrate. Additional Atlas Copco business units will celebrate with customers throughout the year with local events, special offers, and rewards. Full details are available at www.atlascopco.com/us.
Atlas Copco Construction & Mining is responsible for the sales, aftersales service and rental of equipment for surface and underground rock excavation, exploration drilling, rock reinforcement, ground engineering, water well, and oil and gas drilling. The company is headquartered near Denver.
