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Starkey Hearing Technologies is an American-owned and operated company founded in 1967 and based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It is the only American-owned major hearing aid manufacturer in the world and is the largest hearing aid manufacturer in the U.S. The company has 21 facilities in more than 18 countries throughout North America, South America, Central America, Europe, Asia and Australia and employs nearly 5000 people worldwide. With sales of more than 1 million hearing aids annually, Starkey Hearing Technologies is one of the world’s leading hearing aid manufacturers.〔http://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearingnewswatch/2013/research-firm-analyzes-market-share-retail-stores-prospects-of-major-hearing-aid-makers/〕〔http://www.hohypf.org/2013/04/leading-hearing-aid-manufacturers-407/〕 ==History== William (Bill) F. Austin was born in Springfield, Missouri to his father, J.E. "Dutch" Austin, a Georgia-Pacific lumber grader and his mother, Zola, a factory worker. Bill grew up in Garibaldi, Oregon with the intention of becoming a doctor. In 1961, he enrolled in a pre-med program at the University of Minnesota but later dropped out to open a hearing instruments shop in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.〔http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/〕〔http://msthalloffame.org/william_austin.htm〕 In 1967, Austin started Professional Hearing Aid Service out of his home. He built ITE (in-the-ear) hearing aids, but had difficulty finding a good repair service. He soon partnered with a technician from Chicago who had relocated to Minnesota and the two started their own repair company. Austin employed technicians that worked out of his basement to repair and service hearing aids of all types. Professional Hearing Aid Service was the only all-make hearing instrument repair service at the time. Austin eventually moved his company out of his home and into a large office building located at 4725 Excelsior Boulevard in St. Louis Park. It was during this time that Austin started charging a flat rate for hearing aid repairs, something that was unheard of in the hearing aid industry. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Starkey Hearing Technologies」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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