In essence, it was a contract manufacturer almost from the start. The company went public in October 1993, still based in Corinth. A year later, it stumbled, partly because it was making parts for faltering IBM mainframes. Directors recruited Landa and Moley from Silicon Valley Technology, a private contract manufacturing firm, to head the company's new management team. CMC isn't growing rapidly only because of its expanded product line, Landa says.
Rapid distribution is possible because the city is a nexus of nationwide transportation.
It is the home of Federal Express and one of only three U.S. cities served by five major railroads. Landa is pressing for attention in Silicon Valley and for even faster growth. Today, about half of CMC's 30 major customers are in the Fortune 500. He wants to increase that to 70 percent to 75 percent in two years. The bigger the customers, the bigger the orders, he says.