Ironically, the day the US Government reports the worst jobless rate since 1945, and the day after President-elect Barack Obama urged Congress to take “dramatic action as soon as possible” to mitigate the length and severity of the recession, Crestron has announced its best month in the company’s 40 year history.

Crestron, a global leader of advanced commercial and residential control and automation systems, has posted double-digit sales growth for 20 consecutive years. The New Jersey-based company’s fiscal year ended in June with annual revenue of more than $400 million.

In December retail electronic sales suffered a double-digit decline and the US manufacturing sector led job losses. At the same time, Crestron increased monthly sales by 26% over last December – on pace for another record breaking year.

“Our industry and our company are not recession-proof or immune to economic conditions,” says executive vice president Randy Klein. “But Crestron is uniquely positioned to help our dealers and partners thrive even in these uncertain times.”

“We have a responsibility to develop new technologies, get them to market and create more business opportunities.”

Crestron, which does all its manufacturing in the US, introduced 70 new products in 2008 (plus 200 accessories), averaging a new product release every five days. Further, the company already has a remarkable 22 new products scheduled to launch this month alone, which is more than most manufacturers announce in an entire year.