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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK - Troxler Electronic Laboratories has come a long way since the days when Billy Troxler used the gadgets and meters scattered around his father's basement office for his makebelieve world of spaceships and fast cars.
The company has grown to a work force of about 135 based at a facility in the heart of Research Triangle Park. Its offerings have expanded to more than 18 models of six specialized equipment products. More than 35 percent of its sales are represented by exports to Europe, Asia, and South America.
The company's first successful product, a nuclear surface gauge that tests the moisture content and density of soil and asphalt, is still its hottest selling item.
Descendants of the company's founder are still keeping Troxler Labs at the forefront of research in the niche market of construction testing equipment.
"The business was always part of the family, or the family was always part of the business, depending on how you look at it," says Billy Troxler, who has been president and chairman of Troxler Electronic Laboratories since the death of his father and founder of the company, William F. Troxler, in June 2000.
"Vacation was going to technical symposiums, engineering schools and trade shows across the country," he remembers. "We'd all pile in the station wagon and head cross country."
Many in the Triangle's business and engineering circles know the story of how William Troxler, only four years out of North Carolina State University engineering school, started...