(), headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, manufactures
Fiber Optical Cable . The company's cable is largely used for telecommunications and is sold both in the US and seventy other countries worldwide, notably
China . OCCF also manufactures military land tactical fiber optic cable for the
U.S. Military .
The company was founded in 1983 by Robert Kopstein and is one of several fiber optics related firms in the Roanoke area that were established by former employees of
ITT 's facility in
Roanoke County, Virginia . The company expanded steadily in the 1980's and 1990's. OCCF made a partial
Initial Public Offering on April 2, 1996, during the early stages of the telecommunications and
Dot Com Bubble s. 670,000 shares, representing 7% of the company, were sold for $10. The stock soon soared to over $100 per share before settling around $50 per share. The company was profiled by
CNBC and financial industry publications.
Kopstein's shares had a value of over one billion dollars at the stock's peak. He invested much of his 93% ownership of the company in margin loans to acquire other stocks. After the collapse of the dot com bubble in 2000 and 2001, the margin loan backers placed calls which caused Kopstein to liquidate a large portion of his OCCF stock holdings. Combined with the weakness of the telecommuncations sector, the stock price of OCCF fell to around $1 ($6 after considering splits since the IPO). Kopstein stepped down as President and CEO in late 2001.
The new management stablized the company during the recovery of the telecommuncations sector in the mid 2000's. OCCF houses both its offices and manufacturing in a modern facility at the Valleypointe business park in Roanoke County near certified.
Lucent and
Corning are the company's primary competitors.
