By SHAWN PIATEK
Giving back to his adopted community has been a primary concern for Dan DeVos since he arrived in the Johnstown area 20 years ago.
The CEO of Concurrent Technologies Corp. of Richland Township took another opportunity to share some of his knowledge on Tuesday when he spoke as part of the Business Boomers series sponsored by Young Professionals of the Alleghenies.
DeVos told the collection of about 30 young professionals about the journey that led the Baltimore native to Johnstown. But he also offered professional advice and his thoughts on our region’s economy past, present and future.
He said that when he arrived in the region he had many local mentors who helped to shape who he is as a professional. He said he believes it is a duty of all of today’s area leaders to do what they can to help prepare our leaders of tomorrow.
“I had mentors when I came here – guys I looked up to and whose advice meant a lot to me,” DeVos said after addressing the group during a breakfast seminar at the John P. Murtha Neuroscience Center in Richland. “It’s the least I can do to pass that on.
“This was time well spent. These folks came out here early in the morning, which tells me that they’re serious about improving themselves and being our community’s next set of leaders.”
DeVos even addressed some more difficult questions from the attendees. Among the questions was the future of the local defense industry once U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, leaves office.
While DeVos noted that Murtha certainly has had an important influence on the local defense industry, DeVos said he believes local companies have become well established. He noted that the outside view of Johnstown is that it now is a hub of defense technology.
Continuing the region’s momentum into the future shouldn’t be a problem either, DeVos said.
He thinks a foundation is in place for the region to enjoy even greater growth and prosperity.
“I’m very bullish on the future of CTC and the Johnstown region in general,” said DeVos, who will retire from the corporation at year’s end.
“I hope that optimism provides these young people with the incentive to go forward and lead our community into the future.”
Mike Hruska, co-chairman of the Young Professionals business committee, said that DeVos talk was in line with the spirit of the speaker series.
“We were pleased to have someone who has done so much for this community to communicate his values and beliefs to our next generation of leaders,” Hruska said.
“This speaker series is intended to facilitate knowledge transfer from today’s leaders to those of the future, and I think we accomplished a good part of that today.”
