Colorado-based Arrow Electronics developing cutting edge assistive technology

Colorado-based Arrow Electronics is one of the largest companies you've probably never heard of. From your alarm clock going off when you wake up, to going about your day and using any piece of technology, to setting your alarm clock when you head to bed, Arrow Electronics has had a role in all of it.

 While the company is headquartered in Centennial, their impact and reach are global. Since being founded in 1935, Arrow has grown into a Fortune 500 company that is also dedicated to helping develop technology that can help people.

Joe Verrengia, the Global Head of Brand, says you won't see a product with the Arrow Electronics name on it, but the company supplies components for every piece of technology you use.

"By the time you've been up in the morning for 10 minutes, Arrow has touched your life 10 different times. We're in the coffee maker, we're in the clock, we're in your phone, we're in your TV," said Verrengia.

Arrow Electronics works in all aspects of technology. It's one of the largest wholesale distributors of electronic components and software solutions, plus engineering and supply chain services.

A distributor is a company that connects the makers of electronic components, like microchips, to the makers of products you use every day and everywhere.

"We like to say that we're involved in anything and everything that takes a charge, meaning if electricity flows through it, we work with it," said Verrengia.

The company is headquartered in Centennial, but it was founded nearly 100 years ago on Radio Row in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Back then, the radio had only been recently introduced, and small stores were opening to serve the growing industry.

"Arrow Electronics, which is now $31 billion a year or more, and operating in nearly 90 countries, started as a storefront on Radio Row, selling radio equipment, tubes, and other things to make radios to the radio industry," said Verrengia.

Arrow was located in NYC for more than 80 years. As the technology market globalized, Arrow made the move to Colorado in 2015.

"Denver makes us equal distant between Asia, where so many parts are made, and other large markets like Europe, where there are major technology companies," Verrengia said.

In 2026, the company employs 22,000 people. They now work in aerospace with defense satellites, systems that power and guide planes, medical devices, MRI's or anything that's technological. Arrow also works to help build data centers and develop the artificial intelligence economy, plus the global supply chain, working on logistics and distribution of products.

Working with companies nationwide and globally, they've also helped develop complex, high-tech products that help people.

"I think that the most dramatic example of that is a quadriplegic race car driver who can operate at racetrack speeds only with his head," said Verrengia.

The SAM Car is a semi-autonomous motorcar that a quadriplegic driver can control.

"He's controlling steering with these cameras. There are four infrared cameras that track the motion of his head. He wants to turn the car left, he turns his head left, and the wheels turn left," said Verrengia.

In 2016, Sam Schmidt, a paralyzed former driver, drove the car to the summit of Pikes Peak. As he steers with his head, he can also accelerate and brake.

"He blows air through the tube, and that's like accelerating or flooring, and then when he wants to brake, he sucks back on the tube," said Verrengia. "The first time since his accident, our driver was able to decide where to go, when to go, how fast to go. He's back in control, and that has enormous impact in his life."

Arrow has helped developed and build five SAM Car's, none of which are for sale. However, the SAM Car has the world's first artificial intelligence steering system and is now powered by some of the latest Nvidia technologies. With similar technology, they're also improving mobility for blind people.

.lumen, a Romanian tech startup, engineered glasses that are meant to help people who suffer from blindness.

"You put the headgear on, you're walking on the street, and it gives you pulses on the side of your head, like turn left, turn right, and if it says stop, it gives you a pulse in the middle of your forehead," said Verrengia.

The AI-equipped glasses allow blind people to navigate public spaces.

"It gives them the ability to walk independently wherever they want to go, whenever they want to go, without a guide dog, without a white cane, or human assistance," said Verrengia.

.lumen recently released the AI-equipped glasses commercially in Europe, with the hope of benefiting the blind community worldwide. Arrow Electronics helped the company source the right components and improve the design for the glasses.

While the glasses are still pending approval in the United States, the product is in manufacturing and on the cusp of going to the market.

Today, Arrow Electronics is a Fortune 500 company, and the largest of the handful that call Colorado home. It's a showcase of how technology is used in your everyday life, but also for the greater good.

"Our belief that that technology is cool. It really has the opportunity to change your life and with the case of people with disabilities. We want to be able to provide the freedom and the opportunity that they need," said Verrengia.