Southwire is a family-owned company operating in a globally competitive industry. As owners, we are proud of the company’s legacy and good standing in the community. Southwire’s success is rooted in hard work, social responsibility and innovation and we believe that sustaining these core values is vital to the company’s future. We are long-term owners, have a long-term perspective and intend for our children to be long-term owners, too.
Southwire’s roots extend to 1937, when Roy Richards Sr., then a young 25 years old, started Richards & Associates (R&A) to erect power poles with the ultimate purpose of bringing electric light to his grandmother’s home.
Richards was a recent graduate of Georgia Tech, and while the promise of jobs paying $80 a month lured most of his classmates to New York, Richards chose to stay in Carroll County, a commitment he kept even after Southwire grew into a leading player in the wire and cable industry.
During its first two and a half years, R&A strung 3,500 miles of cable, becoming the nation’s second-largest Rural Electrification Act (REA) contractor. As World War II halted all REA construction, Richards was called up into the U.S. Army, eventually reaching the rank of captain.
