40 years in the making
JEFFERSON TWP — The campus of yellow buildings on Route 356 has grown over the years as Penn United Technologies has prospered in the tool-and-die industry.
Founded 40 years ago this coming Wednesday by Charles Barton, Robert Becker and Carl Jones, the company now has 550 employees working in more than 550,000 square feet of production space.
“When they started this company 40 years ago, they had no idea the company would expand like this,” said Bill Jones, president, and the son of the late Carl Jones.
To mark the anniversary, the company will hold an “All American Day,” on Wednesday, where employees will wear red, white and blue shirts, said Valerie Chittester, assistant marketing manager. Lunch will be sold at 1970s-era prices.
Since late March, the company has held drawings for gas cards for employees who scored well on a trivia sheet. A companywide lawn lunch party will be held this summer and on June 10, the company will have a trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo for employees and their families.On a recent tour, Charles Phillips, business development manager, explained how customers' demands have driven versatility and expansion of facilities, machines and services.In addition to tool and die services, Penn United offers metal stamping, precision machining, carbide die components, reel-to-reel electroplating, assembly, prototyping, container tooling, tungsten and silicon carbide wear components, and automated equipment manufacturing.Plus, with the Carl A. Jones Training Center on the main campus, Penn United offers skilled manufacturing training.“A key part of Carl's original vision was to provide training to even some of our competitors so precision manufacturing would be well known in our geographical area,” said Jim Ferguson, director of training for the Learning Institute for the Growth of High Technology, which is in the center.He said since the apprentice training program was started in 1996, about 500 apprentices have been trained.The manufacturer also has diversified to serve the defense, aerospace, medical, automotive, consumer, fluid handling, oil and gas, and energy industries.
This activity occurs at four locations: multiple buildings on the main campus on Route 356 in Jefferson Township; Building 10, which is farther south on Route 356; the Penn United Carbide Facility in Saxonburg; and a new facility in Costa Rica.Although the company experienced two economic slowdowns and the death of its founders during the past decade, it has continued to grow.Phillips said Penn United is adding to its plating building. He also said the company is doing more stamping related to the nuclear industry. Building 10 is primarily used for machine storage and refurbishment.Another one of the company's recent growth areas has been its carbide division, which involves baking powdered metal forms to produce high-impact wear resistant parts for many applications, most notably in the oil, gas and fluid handling industries.Jeff Scales, general sales manager, said Penn United sets itself apart from many carbide producers because it makes preforms and does the grinding in house.Jerry Purcell, vice president of operations, said one of Penn United's biggest challenges is dealing with unfair trade practices, which it takes an active role to combat.Both Bill Jones and Dave Frengel, director of government affairs, are involved on many levels to help reform trade regulations and to enforce existing ones.
