CARY, NC—Video monitor maker SmallHD is recovering from a devastating fire at its Cary, NC manufacturing plant and headquarters. The fire occurred April 26 at 7 p.m., two weeks after the company returned from a successful NAB Show.
SmallHD personnel working late were the first to call in that blaze that burned through an adjacent suite in the complex. Though flames from the inferno never reached the SmallHD space itself, extreme heat and dense smoke damaged the building structure, electrical system and much of the electrical component inventory ready to be assembled into finished products. No one was harmed.
“Once we knew everyone was safe, our primary goal has been to get up and running again as fast as we could,” says Wes Phillips, SmallHD co-founder. The building had to be emptied, and millions of dollars of inventory thrown away due to smoke and soot damage. Some replacement components took up to 14 weeks to arrive from the time they were re-ordered.
“The thing I’ve been most thankful for is our staff and how they’ve stepped up and gotten us back to shipping product.” Backorders on newly introduced FOCUS RX and TX wireless and OLED monitors as well as other products are now being filled.
Phillips explained that SmallHD’s innovative product development team has continued unabated in spite of the fire. “July is our comeback month. We’ve got a lot of exciting new products on the horizon, and in September we’re moving into a new building.”
