By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 23, 2021 | Bet you didn’t know this: Norcross, Ga. ranks 14th in the nation in the number of U.S. patents issued, per 10,000 population! That’s what we found out from TIME magazine.
A total of 2,746 patents have been issued to people with an address in Norcross! That’s an average of 8.6 patents per the 2010 population. Not surprisingly, Princeton, N.J. ranks first, with 15.5 patents per 10,000 population. (See table for the complete list.)
We first heard of those figures when Paul Duke STEM Principal Jonathon Wetherington was speaking to the Norcross PDC Club last Wednesday. (PDC now stands for “people drinking coffee” and meets at the 45 South Café at 8:15 until 9 a.m. each Wednesday. It has no dues and no attendance requirements, but 25-30 people show up most mornings.)
How in the world does Norcross rank so high in patents?
Perhaps the biggest reason is that the city once housed Western Electric’s Bell Labs office here, and that office was big into research for the Bell System. Back about 1975, we were present when that laboratory unveiled its new “light guide” cable, that small-as-a-hair cable system that could transmit telephone calls (light waves) better than a quarter inch copper cable. That revolutionized telephone wiring, leading eventually to using what is now called “fiber optics.” You can understand why modern cell phones would never be so small if it had copper cable wires.
Of course, other companies calling Norcross home contributed to patents. Remember that Scientific Atlanta (now Cisco) had its headquarters once on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. And in what was then Norcross but is now Peachtree Corners was also Electromagnetic Sciences, making patented antenna equipment. Don’t forget Hayes Microcomputer patented the modem here, and today that once-new device is automatically part of all computers. And of course, there were other high-tech companies, inventors, and firms working in Norcross on unique solutions.
One other Georgia firm is on the list of the top 100 companies with patents per 10,000 people. The City of Suwanee was credited with 553 patents, or 1.9 per 10,000 residents.
Williams
It’s good to hear of Ife Williams, former director of the Hudgens Center for the Arts. She’s now the deputy director of the Hambidge Center in Rabun County. That’s a highly-respected artist community near Clayton, providing a residency program where the artist can explore, develop and express their creative voices. Ife, herself a potter, will be focused on operations and programs at the center.
The Hambidge Center is beginning construction on an expansion to bring in more artists from throughout the United States. This new project was enhanced by a $1.45 million gift from Atlanta philanthropist Susan Antinori and the Antinori Foundation. More info: www.hambridge.org.
Sing big praises for Georgia’s Department of Transportation in resolving problems quickly on Interstate 16 when a truck with a raised hydraulic trailer slammed into a bridge near Soperton. Such an impact caused the heavy steel and concrete bridge to move five-six feet! Can you imagine the impact? Or can you imagine why the driver didn’t know the trailer was in the “up” position?
So the heavily-used four-lane was closed to traffic, causing many people delays, and tying up two communities, Soperton and Adrian with diverted traffic. The DOT got busy. And within two days all was clear, thanks to good work by DOT and its contractors.
Hip-Hip-Hurrah for the Department of Transportation!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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