Virginia manufacturer sees market leadership, global impact add to its success
Roanoke, Va. (June 23, 2021) – In its 50-year history, Roanoke-based Virginia Transformer Corporation (VTC) has gone from producing small power transformers to become the largest United States-based power transformer OEM with the largest engineering team in the industry – a 1,500-person team – and five plants in North America. Its customers have included Fortune 500 companies such as Tesla, Chevron, Duke Energy, Edison International, and Siemens.
In recognition of a half century of service and looking ahead toward the next 50 years, CEO Prabhat Jain announced two new corporate initiatives created to attract and retain top workforce talent as the company strives for continued growth.
“As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, I want to reflect back on the last 50 years and recognize how we have traversed obstacles and reached industry-leading milestones,” said CEO Prabhat K. Jain. “In my 39 years as CEO here, I’ve realized that it’s the people, the focus on the customer, and the technology that brings us continued success, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
An American-owned, Minority Business Enterprise, Virginia Transformer Corporation has leveraged the technical background of its leaders and engineers, giving them the agility to react faster to changing market demands and to the needs of customers and employees. At 50 years, VTC has powered the U.S. and the world, providing transformers to the likes of Walt Disney, FermiLab, Washington Metro, and NASA. In 2003, VTC came to the aid of the Army Corps of Engineers by designing, building, and shipping six 15-MVA transformers in just six weeks for the Gulf War rebuilding projects.
“Going forward, transformers will continue to be at the heart and soul of transforming energy from sources of creation to sources of consumption,” said President Anoop Nanda. “The United States’ aging energy infrastructure requires many assets to be replaced to enhance grid reliability and security, and Virginia Transformer is a key player in getting that done with 50 years of expertise and innovation.”
By 1982, when Mr. Jain joined the company as President, VTC was mired in debt and still a minor player in the industry. “I came with one expectation – to lead a business,” Jain said. Under Jain’s leadership, VTC began to broaden and diversify its customer base and product line, developing new technologies and delivering high-reliability transformers with a 60-year service life – the longest in the industry, eventually becoming the market leader that it is today.
Virginia Transformer Corporation is the largest U.S.-based power transformer OEM and provides custom-engineered power transformers for utility, renewable energy, industrial, mining, oil and gas, commercial, institutional, specialty, and export markets. Products range in power from 500-kVA to 1400-MVA and up to 525 kV. Its goal is to deliver the perfect transformer for any application.
The 50th Anniversary celebrations at Roanoke and Troutville facilities went very well.