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Daktronics history
Daktronics company history timeline
Daktronics was founded in 1968 by Doctor Aelred Kurtenbach and Doctor Duane Sander, two professors of electrical engineering at South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings.
1969: Company completes its first stock offering.
The founders utilized the talents of the school's graduates, in 1970 producing and selling their first product, a voting display system for the Utah legislature.
Morgan earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from SDSU and joined Daktronics in 1970 as a graduate student.
Morgan designed the first company scoreboard, the Matside wrestling scoreboard, in 1971.
Daktronics quickly became an established leader in the niche of computer programmable signs and by 1977 the company had surpassed $1 million in annual sales, forcing it to double the size of its facilities.
Daktronics secured a contract to provide nine large scoreboards for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid.
On New Year's Eve, 1984, Daktronics installed its first large Starburst technology display at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and later converted the World famous 'Zipper' display at Times Square in New York City to Daktronics LED (light emitting diode) technology.
1984: The company is restructured from a product-driven to a market-driven organization.
1987: Daktronics acquires circuit board manufacturer Star Circuits.
1994: Daktronics stock is traded on the NASDAQ exchange.
After the Olympics, the stadium and scoreboards were reconfigured for baseball, where the Atlanta Braves began playing in the 1997 season.
Daktronics' sport market niches continued to provide some 70 percent of sales in 1997.
Their strategy paid off with improved profit margins--a net income increase in 1998 of 125 percent over the previous year.
James Morgan took over as president and COO of the company in 1999, at a time when the company ranked as one of 'The 100 Best Stocks to Own for Under $20,' in the book of the same name by Gene Walden.
1999: Daktronics sets record for annual orders with more than $100 million booked.
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Daktronics competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vizio | 2002 | $1.7B | 709 | 4 |
| The University of Toledo | 1872 | $702.0M | 10 | 464 |
| Ball State University | 1918 | $24.6M | 5,690 | 32 |
| University of Dayton | 1850 | $521.6M | 5,178 | 144 |
| National Football League | 1920 | $930.0M | 3,595 | 40 |
| University of Memphis | 1912 | $31.0M | 2,591 | 57 |
| The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | 1886 | $12.0M | 350 | 9 |
| University of Tennessee | 1794 | $3.1B | 7,767 | 677 |
| University of Louisiana at Lafayette | 1898 | $247.9M | 3,476 | 28 |
| Grand Canyon University | 1949 | $1.0B | 6,977 | 331 |
Daktronics history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Daktronics, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Daktronics. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Daktronics. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Daktronics. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Daktronics and its employees or that of Zippia.
Daktronics may also be known as or be related to DAKTRONICS INC SD, Daktronics, Daktronics Inc and Daktronics, Inc.