Pittsburgh TEQ®
DAWAR Celebrates 125 Years in Business
Matt Pross
Averaging 30 percent growth year after year for the last four years, Dawar Technologies is pushing the boundaries of the burgeoning touch screen market in terms of technology and market share with its DawarTouch® line of products. At 125 years young, the North Side mainstay is riding the momentum of this sustained growth to fuel its international presence.
Dawar has a joint venture partnership in a new manufacturing facility in Guangzhou, China which started production in the first quarter of 2007. With the Asian facility, the local tech firm is building its global infrastructure to bolster its expansion. Additionally, Dawar is driving its global market penetration through a sales & marketing office in Taipei, distribution partnerships in Western Europe and a newly established sales office in Brazil.
To support this international expansion and rapid growth, it was essential for Dawar to expand its base camp here in Pittsburgh. At first, the company was unable to find a suitable upgrade to its current 23,000-sq.-ft. North Side headquarters and begrudgingly began looking elsewhere. Fortunately, soon thereafter, the 47,000-sq.-ft. facility - formerly the site of USA Gourmet located directly behind Dawar’s current facility - went up on the market. Needless to say, Dawar jumped on the amazing opportunity and acquired the property in May 2008. Dawar is planning on moving into the new building by January 1, 2009 following refurbishment and build-out.
“At our current growth rate, we have quickly outgrown our current facility,” Carl Snyder, President and CEO of Dawar, said. “There was no question that we wanted to stay in Pittsburgh and it was fortunate that we were able to acquire a much larger facility so close to our current facility on the North Side. We are ecstatic about being able to stay and grow in the region.”
The company commenced operations in 1883 under the name Davis & Warde (D&W) as a commercial printer and typographer. Nearly a century later, D&W diversified its portfolio to include screen-printing capabilities in the 1970s, which eventually evolved into printing on polyester and polycarbonate films in the 1980s.
In 1985, the name Dawar Technologies was officially adopted to rebrand the company’s new focus and, by 1998, the decision was made to forego its commercial printing operations altogether to focus solely on providing screen-printing-related products and services domestically and internationally. Since this transition, Dawar has established itself as a leading manufacturer of several high tech products including DawarTouch® touchscreen technology and integrated solutions, membrane switches, graphic overlays, acrylic windows and lenses, n’caps, silicone rubber keypads, smart cards, roll labels and integrated Duraswitch® solutions.
During this period in Dawar’s history, a group of Pittsburgh-based investors headed by well-known local angel investor, Mel Pirchesky, acquired the company sensing its immense potential. In subsequent years, significant investments were made to energize the company’s entrance into the high technology sectors that it serves presently.
“Once I saw the growth opportunity with Dawar Technologies as a supplier of electronic components and not the printing operation it had been for more than 100 years, I immediately assembled 10 local CEOs to be equity partners and acquired the company in 1998,” Pirchesky, President of Eagle Ventures, Inc., said. “The company’s recent growth rate of more than 30 percent per year is really impressive and is due to the talented team that has been assembled under Carl’s leadership. Dawar is growing because of the acquisition of this great talent and the expansion of its product line.”
In 2004, Dawar Technologies took its human-machine interface technologies to the next level when the company entered the touch screen market with the introduction of its DawarTouch® technology and integrated solutions.
“Developing our touch screen technology further is at the forefront of Dawar right now,” Peter Jarzynka, Director of Technologies & Marketing, said. “Going forward, it is our goal to be the premier provider of user interface technologies.”
“The market potential for our DawarTouch® line of products is huge,” Jarzynka continued. “The applications for touch screen technology are almost endless right now. From general applications in kiosks, to ATMs, industrial controls, medical devices and gaming, as well as in GPS units, PDAs and mobile phones, touch screens are everywhere.”