Page 25 - MidJersey Business - November/December 2014

headlamp in the snow during an expedition, re-

turned a year later, and found the device work-
ing as well as the day it was purchased. There

are other stories detailing their durability, such
as the light with barnacles growing on it after

some time submerged on the ocean loor. That
light still works, too.

“We love to hear about that from our custom-
ers,” Cozzone says. “These are life-saving devices

and it means a lot to us. We are proud of our
R&D and we put our products through these

Stevens worked for RCA in the early 1970s. He was an scenarios as best as we can.”
avid SCUBA diver and carried on a love afair with the Princeton Tec pumps out up to 4,000 lights each year and

waters of the Jersey Shore. When RCA informed him of its with the surging interest in outdoor sports among adventure
plan to relocate Stevens to Arizona, he founded Princeton seekers around the world, that number is likely to continue

Tec as a way to stay put in New Jersey. There was nowhere to rise. With satisied customers from divers to climbers to
else in the country he wanted to live and work.
Navy SEALs, the company is proud of its past and primed

The company started by making depth gauges that let div- for its future.

ers know how long they were underwater for and has since The forces of darkness should take notice.
grown into an adventure lighting device company that will

celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2015.
Part of Princeton Tec’s identity, in addition to

producing rugged devices that can stand up to the
harshest conditions on the planet (and some of its

most notorious characters), is its base of opera-
tions here in New Jersey.

“There’s deinitely been discussions about po-
tentially moving but it always comes back to the

people that work for us,” Cozzone says. “We have
a great location with access to a pool of skilled

workers. We do everything in New Jersey, from
manufacturing to design, and we are near both the

Philadelphia and shore regions where we are.”
Princeton Tec supplies
Princeton Tec employs a total of 220 workers in three elite military units, but the
mid-Jersey locations in Bordentown and Berlin. The com- majority of its products are
for civilian use.
pany designs, manufactures, and ships 100 percent of its
products out of Burlington County. The majority of its sales

are in retail, zeroing in on weekend warriors and adventur-
ers, covering a wide variety of uses and activities.

“Our products are for anybody that wants hands-free
lighting,” Cozzone says. “From lifesaving uses to moms and

dads working around the house, they are great lighting
tools. We like to say our products are perfect

from Everest to Atlantis, from diving
products to climbers at the top of

the world.”
In addition to being

American-made, the
company is most proud of

the quality of the products it

creates. Cozzone likes to tell
a story of a Colorado hunter

who lost a Princeton Tec

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