| Type | Public (NYSE: FSS) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1901 |
| Headquarters | Oak Brook, Illinois, USA |
| Key people | Dennis Martin, CEO & President |
| Revenue | $727 million USD (reference: 2010 10K) |
| Employees | ~2,800 |
| Website | www.federalsignal.com |
Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS) is a global corporation with about 2,800 employees and annual revenue of about US$727 million. Oak Brook, Illinois-based Federal Signal designs, develops and deploys solutions intended to protect people, property and the environment under brands such as Federal Signal, Elgin, Vactor, Guzzler, and Jetstream.
Federal Signal is best known for its variety of police car and fire truck apparatus, industrial equipment, lights, fire alarms, and outdoor warning sirens.
Federal Signal was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1901 by John Goehst and James and John Gilchrist. Samuel Insull later acquired the Company. The Company went public in 1969 under the leadership of Robert T. Gilchrist.
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Federal Signal started out as the Federal Electric Company in 1901, manufacturing and selling store signs lit by incandescent lamps. By 1915, they began manufacturing and selling electrically-operated mechanical sirens (such as the Q Siren and the Model 66 Siren). By the 1950s, they began manufacturing fire/air raid sirens, including the Thunderbolt and the Model 5, usually used for warning of air raids or fallout during the Cold War. Longtime engineer Earl Gosswiller patented the Beacon-Ray and TwinSonic products, which set the standard for emergency vehicle lightbars.
In 1956, the company became a corporation, renaming itself "Federal Sign and Signal Corporation". By this time, it made outdoor warning sirens, police sirens, fire alarms, and outdoor lighting. In 1976, the company became Federal Signal Corporation. By 1990, the company began to drop many of its older outdoor warning siren products (e.g. the Thunderbolt, SD-10, Model 5 & 7, etc.) and focused on designing and producing newer products. In 1988, it released a new product: the Federal Signal 2001 series warning siren. This siren is capable of running via a direct current (DC) power source, such as an AC-to-DC inverter, solar energy, and 4 12VDC series-connected batteries at 48 volts DC. Today, the company produces the battery-operated 2001-130, a mechanical siren which is rated at 130 decibels at 100 feet (30 m).
