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Ithaca Journal

August 31, 1971
Last Month in Trumansburg
Moog Plant Is Mooving to Buffalo Area
By JOHN PECK Journal Staff Writer

TRUMANSBURG - Moog Musonics Inc. of Williamsville announced this morning it will consolidate all its activities at its Williamsville plant, meaning that it will close its operation here effective Oct. 1.
Fifteen employees at the Trumansburg plant on Main St. will be affected and only two, to date, have indicated they will definitely go to Williamsville.
Last June, Musonics, Inc. of Williamsville purchased the former R.A. Moog Co. here, named the new firm Moog Musonics, Inc., and said then that "no changes in the Trumansburg plant are anticipated at this time."
Leah Carpenter, office manager at the Trumansburg plant, said today the move is being made in order to consolidate all operations at Williamsville which, she said, has a plant more suitable for manufacturing and is located nearer much better shipping facilities.
The Trumansburg plant is located in the former Karle Baldwin Furniture store here; the lease on the building expires today.
Baldwin told the firm, however, it may stay here until the move is affected Oct. 1.
Robert A. Moog, who founded the electronic musical instrument company here in 1965, will remain with the firm as director of research and development as announced last June, and will move to Williamsville. The other employee so far who will go to Williamsville is Ray Updike of Mecklenburg who is in sales and service.
Moog, who holds the Ph.D. degree in engineering physics from Cornell University, has also been serving as an instructor in the Engineering Department at Cornell. He will leave that post to go to Williamsville.
Mrs. Carpenter said a "few" other employees have indicated they will work at Williamsville temporarily to determine how they like the situation; Two employees have found other work, she said. She said the number of employees saying they will try the Williamsville situation fluctuates daily.
Williamsville is a suburb of Buffalo and lies east of the city. It is approximately 150 miles from Trumansburg.
Company officials said it believed more efficacious to carry on all its operations at Williamsville. This means the MiniMoog, a small synthesizer for use in homes and high schools, and the Big Moog II, formerly manufactured in Trumansburg, will be built in Williamsville.
The custom designing of electronic music studioes for universities and the recording industry will also be done at Williamsville. It was formerly done here.
William L. Waytena, chairman of the board of the former Musonics Co., said his firm was organized in 1970 to develop a portable electronic synthesizer. It developed the Sonic V which Moog Musonics, Inc. will continue to manufacture with all the synthesizers developed by Moog.

 

Prior to founding the Williamsville plant, Waytena was a founder of the Kistler Instrument Corp., and Radatron, Inc. He is also a former owner of the Hotel Worth in Buffalo.
Moog was the inventor of the synthesizer. In 1970 he received an award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences for his contributions to the development of electronic musical instruments.
The Moog synthesizer has been played in concert in many of the major music halls of the United States, including Lincoln Center.
Moog's work here has attracted famous musicians from throughout the world who have visited the Trumansburg studios.
"Switched on Bach," said to be one of the better selling classical records of all time, was produced with Moog synthesizer equipment.
Last year, Moog was designated as New York State's Small Businessman of the Year.