Made in the Alleghenies: American manufacturing thrives across the region
Amid the mountains and countryside of the Alleghenies region, American manufacturing is thriving, contributing innovative products and technology to the global marketplace and developing the next generation of manufacturing talent. Here are 6 examples.
New Pig Corporation, the top global brand in industrial absorbents
It started with an industrial cleaning company on a mission to find a safer, smarter, better way to clean up oil. Today, New Pig is the #1 brand of industrial absorbents worldwide. With more than 700 employees across nine countries, the company offers 5,000+ products and has earned 34 Plant Engineering New Product of the Year Awards—and still makes its absorbents in Tipton, the same small Blair County town where it all started.
ORX, the highest quality wheel sets for rail transportation
Not even a quarter of a mile down the road from New Pig is ORX, meeting the world’s highest standards for railroad wheel sets. With its roots in the region’s railroad industry, the company was established in 1979 and has continued to innovate products for a wide range of rail transportation, including freight cars, locomotives, and light rail and heavy rail transit vehicles, and to industrial and historic cars. ORX has been the supplier of choice for wheel sets for New York City Transit’s new cars since 1998.
Bedford Reinforced Plastics, 50 years of success
Still privately owned by the Stahl family who started the company in a small barn with a dozen employees in 1974, Bedford Reinforced Plastics now has 250 full-time employees in its 200,000-square-foot fiberglass pultrusion manufacturing facility and state-of-the-art fabrication center in Bedford. Outfitted with the latest robotics and 3D printing technology, the plant’s products are used across the country and around the world in industrial applications like mining, manufacturing, agriculture, oil and gas, water treatment and more, and also in high-profile, high-traffic locations like the Bellagio Hotel & Casino Fountains, the Children’s Museum of Houston, the Hoover Dam Penstock Tunnels and in theme parks, water parks, aquariums, and other attractions.
Concurrent Technologies Corporation, transformative R&D
Johnstown’s Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) is an independent, nonprofit, applied scientific research and development professional services organization that collaborates with its technology transition affiliate, Enterprise Ventures Corporation to deliver innovative technical solutions that safeguard national security, retain U.S. technological advantage, and ensure the primacy of American manufacturing. Several advanced technology solutions that originated as research and development initiatives at CTC are now being sold and marketed to the government and private sector by EVC.
Superior Huntingdon Composites, innovative fiberglass products
Superior Huntingdon Composites in Huntingdon is the birthplace of the continuous filament mat, a unique glass fiber reinforcement product renowned for its strength and durability in construction, energy, marine and transportation applications. The manufacturing facility was built in 1917 as a silk mill and switched to fiberglass production in the 1940s when Owens Corning and the U.S. government partnered to manufacture materials for World War II. Owens Corning operated the plant until Huntingdon Fiberglass Products took ownership in 2013. In 2016, the company consolidated with Super Composites and continues to manufacture its innovative products in Huntingdon for customers around the world.
Augustine Die & Mold and Augustine Plastics, Inc., a one-stop shop for custom parts manufacturing
Augustine Die & Mold (ADM) grew from its founder’s garage into a second company, Augustine Plastics (API), and a 221,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the Somerset Industrial Park. ADM and API provide both distinct and integrated services and a one-stop shop for end-to-end custom parts manufacturing for customers in aerospace and defense, energy, medical and water and wastewater treatment industries, ranging from small, privately-owned companies to the U.S. government and Fortune Global 500 companies.
Startup Alleghenies helps startup and emerging small businesses succeed by providing free coaching to entrepreneurs in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. To access personal, one-on-one support from a coach in your county, including guidance, resources, tools and networking opportunities, sign up at startupalleghenies.com.
