Jan and Mark McClymonds are celebrating the 70th anniversary of McClymonds Supply and Transit, just north of Portersville. Mark bought the company from his father in 1983 and is still the owner.

MUDDY CREEK TWP — A company started by a World War II veteran after he returned home from the war is now one of the biggest of its kind in the state.

McClymonds Supply and Transit on Currie Road north of Portersville recently celebrated its 70th anniversary.

George McClymonds served in the Army in Germany during the war and worked night shifts at the Ellwood City Tube Mill when he returned.

After deciding he preferred driving a truck to working at the mill, George and his wife Gladys started the trucking company in 1945.

When George retired in 1983, his son Mark bought the company and owns it today.

Since 1987, the headquarters has been in its current location on Currie Road.

There have always been members of the family both living and working in the Portersville area, Mark McClymonds said.

“It was where my dad was born and raised,” he said.

The company’s main service is hauling materials via dump trucks to work sites in a 150-mile radius of Western Pennsylvania.

The company serves public utilities, manufacturers, road contractors, housing developers, municipalities and individual homeowners.

In addition to hauling cargo in dump trucks, the company also operates pneumatic tanks and has more than 1,000 roll-off boxes mostly used for scrap metal.

Today, the company owns 450 trucks, employs 550 people and moves about 6,000 loads per week.

While the headquarters offers the convenience of easy access to Route 422 and Interstate 79, the company has also expanded to neighboring counties.

There are additional locations in Saxonburg, New Castle, Lawrence County, Monaca, Beaver County, Crescent Township, Beaver County, and Kennerdell, Venango County.

Having multiple locations has helped the company find more employees as its customer base has grown.

“We still have a need for people. We expand a little bit every year; that just seems to be the way it works,” McClymonds said.

The company’s growth and success can be attributed in part to residential, commercial and industrial development in the region, including Cranberry Township.

“We kind of grew with our customer base, as Cranberry grew up, we grew with it,” he said.

It is now one of the biggest dump truck operators in the state, he said.

As for the future, McClymonds said he predicts the businesses will continue to grow and it will continue to be a family business.