The last Friday of October in 2001 was a sad day in Tyrone history.
\nAs the working whistle blew for the last time at the Westvaco plant, residents in Tyrone and surrounding areas waved good-bye to more than 250 good-paying jobs.
\n\u201cThe mill\u2019s workforce has aggressively confronted extremely challenging market conditions, doing its best to improve product quality and manufacturing operations,\u201d said Westvaco executive vice president James A. Buzzard when the news hit that fateful day. \u201cThese efforts, however can no longer overcome the competitive pressures caused by the economic slowdown, the strong U.S. dollar and the related sharp increase in imported paper. Today\u2019s circumstances dictate that we concentrate our production on the most efficient equipment.\u201d
\nBut now the scene is changing. Westvaco is owned by a group known as Team Ten LLC and according to reports, up to 180 jobs will be added to the local employment market.
\nBeginning at 11 a.m. this morning, CareerLink in Altoona began accepting applications for the 170 new positions.
\n\u201cWe want to try and hire as many local employees that we can,\u201d said John Ferner, president of Team Ten LLC, the group which purchased the mill. \u201cWe want people experienced in paper making and we know that there are a good deal of those types of people in this area.\u201d
\nAccording to Ferner, to begin operations, a workforce of at least 150 people will be needed. He said the group is searching for people experienced in maintenance, power and boiler plant operation and paper making.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to first look at the people who have the experience,\u201d said Ferner. \u201cWhether they come from here or Lock Haven, we need the people who know how to do the job.\u201d
\nFerner said the average salary for skilled employees will be around $14 per hour, a rate which Ferner said is \u201cvery comparable\u201d to the rates that were being paid when the plant closed in October of 2001.
\nEach presenter at this morning\u2019s new conference applauded the Tyrone workforce for not only its dedication, but also for the ethics they posses.
\nRep. Sather summed it up in a nutshell.
\n\u201cThe hiring process is soon to start, the plant is expected to be operating by Sept. 1, and there could be 170 jobs not far down the line,\u201d said Jubelirer. \u201cWe will again see the parking lot filled, workers moving about the plant, the machinery in motion, products being shipped, workers spending money in shops and restaurants in the neighborhood, all welcome indications that things have taken a turn for the better.\u201d
\nMarty Marasco, president of the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation, also offered comments.
\n\u201cThe new company expects to employ approximately 170 people within six months to one year,\u201d said Marasco. \u201cThis announcement sends word around the country that right here in Blair County, the heart of the I-99 Innovation Corridor, we are improving and expanding our existing asset base and using our competitive location to create new jobs.\u201d
\n\u201cThis is a beautiful day for Tyrone and for the great number of skilled workers here,\u201d said Ferner. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to finally get this project off and running. Soon, the machines will be running and the parking lot will be full of cars again. We can\u2019t wait to see that happen.\u201d
\nDuring the press conference, a number of officials noted that a September 1 opening date is planned, but Ferner said realistically, the plant may not be running for a little while after that.
\n\u201cWe really need to just wait and see how the hiring process goes,\u201d he said.
\nFerner said he hopes the company will take off as expected and maybe even add more positions at a later date. He said he hopes the opening of the plant will attract other businesses into the area, thus creating more good-paying jobs to the residents of Northern Blair County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last Friday of October in 2001 was a sad day in Tyrone history. As the working whistle blew for the last time at the Westvaco plant, residents in Tyrone and surrounding areas waved good-bye to more than 250 good-paying jobs. \u201cThe mill\u2019s workforce has aggressively confronted extremely challenging market conditions, doing its best to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}