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AMERICAN MADE

Made in America means a lot to Datron World Communications.

Datron was one U.S. manufacturer sending products out of the country — and electronics no less — against a stronger current of imports.

“We manufacture our own products. We stuff our own boards,” said Art Barter, owner and CEO of Datron, which assembles substantially all of its products in the United States. The sole exception is a project built with some Japanese expertise.

“I am a staunch believer that this country can still build products,” Barter said.

Vista-based Datron exports tactical radios to foreign militaries. It also serves the domestic market, making radios for agencies such as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. But 90 percent of its business is exports.

Record Numbers

The business is growing. Datron reported more than $200 million in new business last year. It was a record year as far as revenue and profit, said Barter, who is the company’s sole owner and does not publicly disclose its finances.

Barter counts ITT Corp. and Harris Corp. as his competition, as well as companies in Germany, France and Israel. Datron exports to more than 80 countries, including Afghanistan. Barter said the Indonesian army is one of its largest customers, having bought 10,000 of its tactical radios.

A new alliance with a Canadian company has it breaking into the market for small spy drones.

3-Pound Scout

Aeryon Labs Inc. of Waterloo, Ontario — near Toronto and Buffalo, N.Y. — makes a flying machine that looks like an insect. The Datron Scout weighs 3 pounds and is small enough to be carried around by one person. It flies with four helicopterlike rotors, and carries a camera underneath. It’s easy to use, Barter said.

The Scout can hover 1,600 feet above the area it is monitoring. Previously, it was limited to altitudes of about 5,500 feet above sea level, but Datron reported this summer that with special propellers, it can hover in the thin air at 13,000 feet above sea level.

The drone recently went to work for rebels in Libya. Datron’s website has a video clip taken from a Scout drone during the march on Tripoli, showing Libyan soldiers tending to and firing an artillery battery.

Datron’s alliance with Aeryon Labs has the Canadian company providing the technology. Datron takes it to market using its sales contacts around the world.

The Vista company recently made a $1 million investment in Aeryon Labs, Barter said, giving Datron a 2.5 percent stake in the Canadian drone-maker.

Company’s History

Barter bought the Datron business for $4.7 million from his employer at the time, Titan Corp., in 2004.

It was a tumultuous time.

For one thing, the radio company had $10 million in revenue and was losing money.

Then there was the scandal.

Federal authorities were investigating Titan, including the Datron unit, for possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids bribes in exchange for overseas business. Investigators finally found a violation involving another Titan business unit, its wireless telecom arm, and the government of Benin. In 2005, Titan pleaded guilty to three felony counts and agreed to pay $28.5 million in fines. The incident scuttled Lockheed Martin Corp.’s plans to buy Titan.

Barter’s advice for anyone looking to export would be to learn two acronyms: FCPA, which is short for the aforementioned law, and ITAR.

“Get yourself a great FCPA attorney … before you pay a dime to anyone overseas,” Barter said. Even an inconclusive government investigation can generate crippling legal fees, he added.

Exporters also do not want to run afoul of the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR.

Going to market is not always easy.

There can be cultural hurdles to negotiating a deal, and the American approach can sometimes be perceived as too hasty. Executives need to be patient, Barter said.

Trying to Economize

Then there are global economic forces. Slowing economies overseas — with the exception of China — mean foreign militaries are trying to economize, said Earl Johnson, an Indiana-based executive with ITT Corp., which provides military radios domestically and overseas.

Barter, however, sees a need for his products because customers are increasingly on guard for terrorism.

Doing the right thing seems to be a motivator for Barter.

Datron’s headquarters houses the Servant Leadership Institute, which advocates a leadership style informed by concepts from the Christian Gospels.

And an article from the North County Times recently caught Barter’s attention … so much that he distributed it to his employees during an all-hands meeting.

It was about elections in Zimbabwe, a country where the police use Datron radios.

Zimbabwe’s elections are frequently violent affairs. The newspaper article, however, described peaceful elections. It was apparent to Barter that the police were controlling the crowd “with good communications instead of bullets.”

“This is confirmation we’re doing the right thing,” Barter said, and he let every employee know about it.

“It pumped up my employees,” Barter said. “That made it real to them.”

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