A New Find - A Biele Business Postcard from 1892

I am now the proud owner of a Biele business postcard from 1892.  The postcard was sent on February 23, 1892 from C. F. & E. Biele of New York City to The Seymour Manufacturing Company of Seymour, Connecticut.

C. F. & E. Biele was the predecessor company of Charles F. Biele and Sons.  "C. F."  was Charles F. Biele and "E" was Emil.  Emil was the younger brother of Charles and he later left the business to pursue a successful real estate career in Brooklyn.

Seymour Manufacturing Company was founded in 1878 by the Matthies family, later renamed the Seymour Specialty Wire Company. The company produced brass products, at several mills along the Naugatuck River, for over one hundred years before closing in 1991. In 1984 workers at the company purchased the declining business from its owners, and it became the biggest employee owned industrial firm in the  United States. Due to declining production however, the company closed in 1991.

Click on the photos to see an enlarged view.

A Biele Makes the Business News

Last week David Biele was mentioned in the sale of Pacific Wave System where he serves as President.  David Biele had previously sold Pacific Wave Systems which is founded in 1990 to a private equity firm in 2008.

An excerpt of the June 2, 2015 sale follows:

COM DEV International Ltd. (TSX:CDV) today announced an agreement to acquire Pacific Wave Systems (PWS), a leading manufacturer of waveguides for the global satellite industry, for US$20.1 million. Founded 25 years ago in Garden Grove, California, PWS has a solid track record of quality and delivery, and relationships with most of the large satellite prime contractors. The transaction strengthens COM DEV's portfolio with a complementary space product that is expected to benefit from market trends including the growth in high-throughput satellites.

"We are very excited to become part of the COM DEV team," said David Biele, president of Pacific Wave Systems. "We anticipate the introduction of high throughput satellites to drive a significant increase in demand for waveguides. We will be well positioned to capture and deliver on these larger orders as part of a major organization with COM DEV's reputation."

An excerpt of the 2008 press release follows:

April 4, 2008 - Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (“LLCP”), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, announced today that LLCP has partnered with management to complete the acquisition of Pacific Wave Systems, Inc. (“PWS”). PWS, based in Garden Grove, California and founded in 1990 is a market leader in the manufacturing of machined microwave products, rigid waveguide assemblies and low-loss waveguide transmission lines for the global satellite industry. PWS sells its products to the largest domestic and international satellite manufacturers.
The PWS investment was made from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners California Growth Fund, L.P.  According to Lauren Leichtman, Co-Founder and CEO of LLCP, “We are delighted to partner with David Biele and the rest of the PWS management team in making this acquisition.  PWS’ leading global market position in the waveguide manufacturing industry highlights the impressive business that Mr. Biele and the management team have built over the last 17 years. We look forward to PWS continuing its strong tradition of providing high quality waveguide products to its longstanding customer base and are excited to provide the capital needed as Mr. Biele takes PWS to the next level.”