Concord Industries

Concord Industries is a vast corporate conglomerate with the highest valuation of any publicly traded company in colonized space. With subsidiaries in almost every industry, business stretching from Hledia Major to the Gates of Rathyn, and even a handful of star systems under its direct ownership and management, it is a force to behold in galactic affairs. Concord is incorporated in High Steelforge, and listed primarily on the High Steelforge Stock Exchange.

Concord Industries makes the bulk of its profits off of the large scale of popular, low-cost products which, while rarely technical leaps, are often cheap and built with sufficient tolerances to handle most operating conditions. While known amongst their industrial partners for making products "exactly good enough, and no better", their finished products are often middle of the road by most metrics. In addition to a wide variety of consumer goods, they are able to apply their low-cost and large-scale philosophy to sophisticated areas, such as aerospace-craft and reactors.

Concord is known to have a penchant for ownership, forgoing the network of smaller firms and independent workshops used by other megacorps to expand their services into distant systems. While this makes their areas of operation more defined, it enables far more efficient cooperation between facilities and subsidiaries over large interstellar distances, a key component of their cost reduction model.

Governance

Concord is a publicly traded joint-stock company based in the Nova Compact and listed on most exchanges in the Wendingways. 4% of its stock is held by the McLaurence family, collectively the richest family in colonized space. It is governed by a board of investors, made up of the 45 largest shareholders of the firm (who collectively represent 53% of the firm's stock), as well as 5 representatives elected by the rest of the shareholders, with voting power distributed by ownership. The board selects the highest-level executives of the firm and drafts influential strategy memos, but a strict corporate charter written by the firm's founders limits the ability of shareholders to make major business decisions or to substantially alter stock rebates.

Most of the decision-making of the firm happens in a close-knit and reclusive executive office headed by the charismatic CEO Raul Uda. Many of the lower ranks of the executive office are drawn from the scions of the McLaurence family, although the clan's influence on the firm has steadily declined since its formation. Concord's relationships with its workers unions are often fractious; while its employees in well-connected regions are relatively well compensated, accusations of mistreatment and predatory practices in backwater operations are a constant.

Major subsidiaries

Concord divides its business into subsidiaries, each of which develops products, manages supply chains, and organizes customer service personnel in their various regions of operation. While central offices work to ensure different subsidiaries integrate with each other where possible, local and regional managers have a great deal of independence in order to pursue growth and profitability in their local markets most effectively. Some major subsidiaries are as follows:

Concord Starflight

Concord Starflight is the main aerospace arm of Concord. They produce atmospheric transports, light surface-to-orbit shuttles, interstellar light transports, small interstellar bulkers, and high-end personal transports for both planetary and interstellar use, as well as several models of atmospheric transports. While Concord Starflight vessels are often among the lowest-cost entries in their class (in both acquisition and maintenance), the often lag in performance and durability, and crews frequently complain that their systems, while streamlined, are difficult to access and hard to modify. Many low-cost cargo outfits in the backwater systems around the Nova Compact fly almost exclusively Concord ships, though their models face stiff competition in most markets.

Concord Starflight's products designed primarily for atmospheric use are sold under the brand Concord Aero. Their factories do produce some military models, but they have had mixed success with their original designs. Producing under the name Concord Aero Armaments, they are known both for some of Concord's highest-performing products (such as the C.A.A.f500) and some of its highest-profile flops (of which the most notorious is by far the t3560). In addition to its original designs, Concord Aero Armaments also produces an array of older patterns acquired through mergers and license deals from other firms

Concord Agricultural

Concord Agricultural is the largest operator of the agricultural districts of High Steelforge, and also operates many farms and other producers of food in systems across the Nova Compact.

Concord Computational

C.C. is the main electronics manufacturing branch of Concord. They engage in a variety of computer manufacture businesses, from semiconductor and chip manufacturing to the final assembly and distribution of both personal machines and handheld devices and enterprise mainframe and cloud systems. Concord Computational's business is roughly evenly split between contract manufacturing of chips for other businesses and the production of ready-to-use computer products for the consumer and business markets. Much of their production of hardware for business use is consumed by Concord Software, which uses it to power their cloud services across Concord's areas of operation. Concord Computational is also known for their production of Providence Keys

Concord Spaceworks

Concord Spaceworks specializes in the production and installation of prefabricated large spaceborne installations, such as orbital starports, prefabricated Starsong relays, and large satellites. Concord Spaceworks is notable for making use of large factory-ships, which allow it to assemble installations en route to their installation, one of the few firms able to operate such elaborate vessels economically.

Concord Energistics

Concord Energistics focuses on the production of fission and fusion reactors. It focuses primarily on low-cost planetary installations and the production of small to medium reactors for spacecraft, aircraft, and surface vessels.

Concord Financial

Concord Financial is the firm's financial services arm, providing a variety of consumer and business services including loans, savings, portfolio management, and accounting services. Concord Financial also has a thriving insurance office, which often covers Concord products at a discounted rate. Concord Financial is one of the firm's more economically volatile subsidiaries, it has repeatedly managed to dodge liquidation or sale.

Concord Systems Administration

the Concord Systems Administration is the governing body of the Concord Corporate Jurisdiction, providing civil and military services to the Jurisdiction. Although unprofitable since Concord's purchase of the system governments for which it is responsible, it has been floated by the company largely as a public relations measure, intended to counter those who decry the wide-ranging and anti-competitive practices of Concord Industries.

Concord Syntheses

Concord Syntheses is the chemicals processing and raw materials production arm of Concord. Although focused on the production and refining of bulk plastics and metal alloys, it also dabbles in the production of explosives, pharmaceuticals, and nanoparticle manufacture.