METROWEST AT 40 · LOCAL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Have Fun, Make Money
For four decades, Alcorn McBride has built the technology behind some of the world’s biggest theme park attractions. The team designs, builds, and ships every product from a quiet office on Binloop Drive, right herein MetroWest.
If you have ever ridden a dark ride at Walt Disney World, watched a synchronized video wall in a museum, or experienced a perfectly timed audio cue inside a major theme park attraction, there is a good chance an Alcorn McBride product was working behind the scenes to make it happen.
What you might not know is that the engineers behind those products are based in MetroWest.
This year, Alcorn McBride turns 40. It is a milestone the company shares with the community around it, because MetroWest is also celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026. Two stories that started in 1986. Two stories that ended up under the same trees, on the same sidewalks, in the same Saturday traffic.
Why MetroWest
Alcorn McBride’s path to MetroWest was a long one. Founder Steve Alcorn started the company in Southern California in March 1986, moved its corporate office to Florida three years later, and bought an Orlando building in 1992. The company eventually settled into its current home on Binloop Drive (named, fittingly, after one of the company’s flagship product lines, the Digital Binloop synchronized audio and video player).
It is not the typical address for a product manufacturer. Most companies in this category land in industrial parks. Alcorn McBride landed somewhere different on purpose.
“MetroWest is a great location for its proximity to our local customers, but it is also just a beautiful place to work. It feels like a community rather than an industrial park, which is where manufacturers are typically located.” by Loren Barrows, Alcorn McBride
The team’s days, Loren says, are punctuated by the kinds of small moments that make a workplace feel human. A lunch break at a nearby restaurant. An afternoon walk on the sidewalks. A quick errand at the shopping center down the street. “Hiawasse Road is beautifully maintained,” she notes. “It makes the daily commute more enjoyable.” In other words, the same things that make MetroWest a good place to live also make it a good place to build a career.
“Have Fun, Make Money.”
Inside the building, the company culture has a name, and it doubles as the team motto: have fun, make money. Loren explains it simply. Do the things you enjoy, and prosperity will follow. Match team members’ talents to business needs. Hire people who care about each other and let them care out loud.
The model has earned the company national attention. Alcorn McBride was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in 2010, won the Florida Governor’s Award for best new product for its high definition video player, and was recognized by the Orlando Business Journal as one of the area’s Best Places to Work.
Forty Years of Real Lives
Ask the Alcorn McBride team what they are most proud of as the company hits 40, and they will not lead with the products. They will lead with the people.
“Steve built this company for his employees. Over 40 years, Alcorn McBride has provided great incomes, full medical benefits, and, as a result, raised families.” by Loren Barrows
Many on the team have been at the company for 20 years. Some have been there for 30. Several are now seeing a second generation of family members hired on, and Loren says that quietly might be the part of the milestone that means the most. “That just feels good all around,” she says, and it is the kind of line that translates clearly to anyone running a small business in MetroWest. Forty years of paychecks. Forty years of medical benefits. Forty years of families that grew up around a steady job.
Champagne in the Ballroom
Ask for a story that captures the personality of the place, and the team will tell you about Steve Alcorn’s 60th birthday.
Steve is an engineer and entrepreneur by training. He is also, by all accounts, a serious wine enthusiast and a deeply enthusiastic foodie. So for his 60th, the team surprised him by transforming the office into the “Steve Alcorn Food and Wine Festival.” Each team member themed their workspace around something Steve enjoys. A coworker who shares his interest in wine paired the right bottle with the food being served in each office. The day kicked off with a champagne toast in a ballroom-themed space.
It is, in retrospect, exactly what you would expect from a company that designs experiences for theme parks. A workday turned into an attraction. Theming, pacing, and a perfect opening cue.
What’s Next
The next chapter looks busy. As Loren puts it, themed entertainment is booming. Disney and Universal have both announced major expansions, and Alcorn McBride builds for that exact moment, designing products that hold up to the demands of high-use attractions. The work is going to keep coming.
And it will keep coming out of MetroWest. Out of a building on Binloop Drive, designed by a team that decided, against all small business odds, to enjoy themselves while they do it.
Forty years in, that still feels like the smartest engineering decision Alcorn McBride ever made.
