from concept to delivery

Marietta Daily Journal Business Editor

MARIETTA - Marietta's Daryle Higginbotham started his business in his basement in 1988 - equipped with only a 9-inch metal lathe and a Bridgeport milling machine.

Today, he and his staff of 31 create machines and X-ray applications for technology-hungry customers in government and industry, including the Department of Homeland Security, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the Air Force and the Department of Energy.

Higginbotham said his companies have built X-ray imaging equipment and systems to ensure the safety of canisters and barrels for everything from low-level radioactive waste disposal to weapons-grade plutonium; robotics capable of X-raying entire truck trailers before they can be allowed entry into U.S. ports for Homeland Security; and robotics and equipment so large they can X-ray entire aircraft for Lockheed and the Air Force.

The companies owned by Higginbotham, a 42-year-old Gainesville native who came to Marietta in 1982, now have two names: Higginbotham and Associates, which serves as the brand for mechanical machinery, and Marietta X-Ray (MXRI), which serves as the brand for commercial and industrial imaging machinery, established in 2000.

Last year, MXRI recorded annual revenues of $2.6 million, passing the annual revenues for Higginbotham and Associates for the first time at $2.4 million.

"I'm a machinist by trade and an engineer by degree," Higginbotham said.

He earned a certificate as a tool and die maker from Lanier Technical College in Gainesville before earning his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering technology at Southern Polytechnic State University.

He said his combination of skills and the oceans of talent looking for experience in the business put his companies in a good position to compete in today's market.

"There are not too many companies left that will take an idea from concept to delivery," he said. "We've got every skill set that we need under one roof to conceive, design, manufacture, install and service these applications."

Higginbotham also jokes that the company is like the SPSU west campus, with a number of graduates and co-op students working at the 24,000-square-foot facility, located at 530 Commercial Park Drive off Fairground Street near its intersection with South Cobb Drive.

"Everybody starts out on the shop floor. They have to show that they have the aptitude not to stick their hand in a saw before they can work on designs on a computer. Marietta is like a baited pond for young energetic people that want the experience that we have to offer," he said.

Higginbotham is a member of the Marietta Metro Rotary, serves on the advisory board for SPSU of Mechanical Engineering Technology and is on the board of directors of the True Blue Club of boosters for Marietta High School.

He lives off of Whitlock Avenue with his wife, Becky, 15-year-old son, Bryan, who plays quarterback for the Marietta High School Blue Devils JV football team, and daughter, Katie, 13.

rwillis@mdjonline.com