The Bear Metallurgical Co. is indeed a diamond in the rough.

The company on East Butler Road in Summit Township manufactures high-purity ferro alloy products for the specialty steel, automotive and foundry industries. It is one of the world's leading producers of ferro alloys, which are used to make ultra-lightweight, high-strength steel.

According to Vice President C. Michael Bourgeois, the company produced 13 million pounds of alloy in 2007. That's twice the amount the facility produced in 1998.

And it's growing.

The company is exploring the possibility of enlarging the plant. Bourgeois said the company will expand production capacity by 20 percent in 2008.

To do that, Bear Metallurgical has increased employment from 49 workers at the end of last year to 71 workers now, and the plant, which formerly operated five days a week, recently expanded to a seven-day operation.

Until the recent round of hires, the average tenure of the Bear Metallurgical workforce was more than 10 years.

Bear Metallurgical is proud of its safety record. It has experienced more than 1,040 days without a lost-time accident.

Its technical expertise, skilled and committed workforce, and efficient operation enable Bear Metallurgical to compete globally. Although it has a worldwide presence, Bear Metallurgical is involved in the local community.

The company supports a number of local and regional endeavors, including the Community Development Corporation of Butler County, the Butler County Chamber of Commerce, the Butler Health System Foundation, Leadership Butler County, the United Way of Butler County, the Butler County Humane Society and Penndot's Adopt a Highway program.

Bear Metallurgical embraces a commitment to environmental responsibility to both its customers and the community. The company has been the recipient of the Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence and The Pennsylvania Resources Council Award for Industrial Recycling.

Among its business honors, Bear Metallurgical received the 2005 Manufacturer of the Year award sponsored by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

When it was in founded in 1990, Bear Metallurgical was a family-owned company with just 15 employees. The Gulf Chemical and Metallurgical Corp. of Freeport, Texas, acquired Bear Metallurgical in December 2005.

Gulf Chemical and Metallurgical, the world's largest recycler of spent petroleum products, is a subsidiary of the French mining and metallurgy group Eramet Comilog.