CTS Corporation history

In 1902, in need of more, yet less expensive manufacturing space, the company found suitable facilities in Elkhart, Indiana, about 100 miles east of Chicago.

By 1910, the company was producing a wide variety of telephone models, as well as 20 different types of switchboards ranging from apartment building size units up to express switchboards that could accommodate up to 300 telephone connections.

By 1922, more than half of company sales came from the radio components business.

The last commercial telephone produced by the company was manufactured in 1940.

By 1941 CTS was the largest producer of variable resistor products in the world.

In 1960, Chicago Telephone Supply Company officially changed its name to CTS Corporation to more accurately reflect its diverse product line offerings.

1962: CTS goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1979 CTS opened a manufacturing facility in Singapore, primarily to remain competitive in supplying components for car radios.

In the early 1980’s CTS acquired a successful connector and backplane manufacturer with operations in North America and Scotland.

In June 1983 CTS acquired California-based Micro Peripherals, Inc., a leading manufacturer of floppy disk drives for computers.

In January 1985, 15 months after acquiring Micro Peripherals, CTS found a buyer for the subsidiary in Vista Technologies, Inc., a marketing start-up based in Westwood, California.

A shareholder suit brought against CTS in early 1986 by Dynamics Corporation of America (DCA) noted that CTS's acquisition of Micro Peripherals had resulted in pretax operating losses.

In March 1987, CTS and DCA reached an agreement to end their differences, with the result that DCA would have a significantly expanded role in decision-making at CTS. CTS's board of directors was restructured, with DCA gaining three of the board's seven seats.

Under the leadership of chairman, CEO, and president Joseph P. Walker, who assumed these roles in 1988, CTS had focused on improving its manufacturing processes.

By 1989 CTS returned to profitability, reporting revenue of $262 million and net income of $14.3 million.

CTS celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1996.

Simpson, Cam, “Elkhart, Ind.-Based CTS Corp Does Well for Investors in 1997,” Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News, August 4, 1997.

Electronic Buyers’ News named CTS as the best-managed company in the passive electronic components industry in its October 18, 1999, issue.

“The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind., Winner’s Circle Column,” Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News, February 1, 2000.

In January 2001 CTS appointed Donald K. Schwanz as president and COO. Joseph Walker would continue as the company’s chairman and CEO. Schwanz came to CTS from Honeywell, and his immediate task at CTS would be to deal with the overall economic slowdown forecast for 2001.

In 2007, CTS completed the acquisition of Alpha Ceramics, a provider of piezoceramic materials for sensor and transducer manufacturers in military and aerospace markets.

The 2008 acquisition of Tusonix, Inc., with manufacturing operations in Nogales, Mexico, added electromagnetic and radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI) filter components to the CTS product family.

In 2012, CTS completed the acquisition of Valpey-Fisher Corporation, a leader in the design and manufacture of precision frequency crystal oscillators.

In January of 2013, Kieran O’Sullivan joined CTS as President and Chief Executive Officer.