Reading Works

Reading Works
IndustryElectronics Manufacturing
Predecessor
    • Gray and Barton
    • Western Electric Manufacturing Co.
Founded1876; 148 years ago (1876)
FounderElisha Gray
FateClosed in 2003
Headquarters
Berks County, Pennsylvania
,
United States
OwnerWestern Electric (1952–1984)
AT&T Technologies (1984–1996)
Lucent Technologies (1996–2000)
Agere Systems (2000–2005)
Number of employees
5,000 (1985)

Western Electric's Reading Works in Berks County, Pennsylvania was a manufacturer of integrated circuit and optoelectronic equipment for communication and computing. The work force grew to nearly 5,000 by 1985 making the Reading, Pennsylvania, facility one of Berks County's largest industrial employers. As a part of Western Electric and the Bell System, it changed its masthead many times during its life.[1]

  1. ^ The Reading Eagle, 6/17/07, Our industrious roots: Western Electric, This was Silicon Valley; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press.