NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 21 number 3 - Spring 2001

By Bernie McTigue, Special Collections

Vincent R. Ross, a 1952 graduate of NC State's College of Forest Resources, has given the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections Department a gift of the archival records of Ross Associates, Inc. Consisting of more than 200 linear feet of papers, 240 tubes of rolled drawings, and one solid wood Brunswick Red Crown bowling pin, the Vincent R. Ross Collection thoroughly documents the activities of this firm of consulting management engineers.

Active since 1962, the Asheville-based company has maintained an international client base in the fields of wood products technology and industrial engineering. They have consulted on setting up furniture factories throughout the world, and they have worked with the World Bank on the privatization of manufacturing plants in the former Yugoslavia. Over the years, the company has served as a consultant with 375 different companies on more than 1,100 projects, all of which are documented in the collection. A glance through the list of projects suggests the status of Ross Associates in its chosen field, including major projects for clients such as the Canadian Government (plant layout), Drexel Furniture (lumber yard), and Knoll International (plant audit). The Ross gift provides students and faculty with a valuable resource to explore an area of enterprise with particular relevance to North Carolina's manufacturing and industrial history.