By SHAWN PIATEK
The best indication that Johnstown Area Regional Industries enjoyed a successful 2007 might have been in the way U.S. Rep. John Murtha joked with attendees Monday during his keynote message at JARI’s progress report luncheon.
The Johnstown Democrat took time during his speech to point out the time when Bill Polacek, chief executive officer of JWF Industries, still worked for a living.
Shortly thereafter, he noted that when Dan DeVos, CEO of Concurrent Technologies Corp. and chairman of JARI, first came to Johnstown, he had far fewer gray hairs.
Likewise, there were only smiles when JARI discussed its accomplishments in 2007 at the Holiday Inn Johnstown-Downtown.
Work force issues topped the discussion and JARI said it created 1,144 jobs and helped retain another 4,000. JARI President Linda Thomson said what might surprise people the most is the need for JARI to become more active in recruiting workers to the region to keep up with the growth of local companies.
“I think people are going to be shocked. But we now have a significant number of companies here that can’t find workers,” Thomson said.
“We’re going to be working very hard to bring folks back or find new people who we can bring in. If you had told me five years ago that we were going to need workers here, I never would have believed it.”
Other major accomplishments noted were the $1.1 million raised during the Partners for Progress Fund Drive, the completion of Phase II of the Johnstown Business Park and the purchase of land for an eventual Phase III expansion of that park.
JARI also noted the success of Kongsberg Defense, a Norwegian government contracting business that took its American roots at JARI’s business incubator in Richland Township. The company announced last month that it is expanding with an assembly plant in Richland Township that will create a significant number of jobs.
“We have found a real niche in that area of economic development,” Thomson said.
“We have had success with foreign companies because we have been willing to work so closely with them and help them to gain a foothold here and eventually get their U.S. operations off the ground.”
