When Dave Whitman and Robert Jones founded Sunhillo Corporation in 1991, they did not create a business plan – they went right to work. Dave and Robert met at the company they worked for, Formation, in Moorestown, NJ and decided to combine their expertise in radar surveillance technology. After 6 months in business, Dave and Bob landed their first subcontract for IBM, to develop a radar interface for Taiwan.
For the past 25 years, World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia member company Sunhillo has been developing products and systems to distribute radar data, more specifically, to convert and filter surveillance data used by Air Traffic Automation systems. Headquartered in West Berlin, NJ, within 45 minutes of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC), Sunhillo also provides technical services to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including Atlantic City Technical Center, which is supported by 80 Sunhillo employees. http://www.sunhillo.com/
Today Sunhillo does $20,000,000 in annual global sales and is an industry leader in surveillance data distribution and conversion products.
With the need for increased security around the world, Sunhillo data systems and software are in demand. Sunhillo is in every airport in the United States!
In 2001, Sunhillo began to export.
“Between 8 to 15% of our business is international and 7 to 10% is outside of North America. Canada has become a big market for us and growing our international sales is a top priority since we are saturating our FAA business, “says Dave Whitman, President, Sunhillo Corporation. “The WTCGP has helped provide vital information on exporting and has helped connect us with cost saving export finance options.”
Sunhillo Corporation has been a member of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia since 2015 and in 2016 received the New Jersey Member Company of the Year Award at a ceremony at our World Trade Center’s Day Awards and Celebration, which took place at the Independence Seaport Museum.
To date, Sunhillo is exporting to 13 countries, which include Thailand, France, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom and Brazil. In the UK, Sunhillo employs a full time sales person.
While 90% of Sunhillo customers are Government Air Traffic Service providers, such as the FAA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA in UK and China), they also sell to the Department of Defense (DOD) and Homeland Security.
Sunhillo surveillance is used to monitor the United States-Mexican Border and by Drug Interdiction personnel in the Caribbean.
And Sunhillo is protecting the President of the United States! The US Secret Service uses Sunhillo products every time the President travels.
And the Space Shuttle! Sunhillo has also been deployed to track several space shuttle landings.
Tasked with the mission to continue to create the latest in surveillance technology, the team at Sunhillo, an employee owned company, works to protect people, places and things around the globe. It’s no surprise that with increased global security needs, Sunhillo has seen a steady 12% growth in business over the last ten years.
We are proud to call Sunhillo a member of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia and look forward to reporting additional success stories.
Photo: Left to Right: Linda Conlin, President, WTCGP, and Gary Biehn, Board Chairman, WTCGP present the Member Company of the Year Award to Dave Whitman, President, Sunhillo Corporation, in May 2015 at Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA.
