The Tri-County Workforce Investment Board recently named Clark Metal Products of Blairsville its 2013 Employer of the Year in Indiana County.
The honor is bestowed annually in each of the three counties served by the board, recognizing an employer that has made a significant contribution to building a skilled local workforce. Armstrong and Butler counties also are under the board's umbrella.
Clark Metal Products employs about 120 people in its advanced metal fabrication business. It assists other companies in the design and manufacture of various products.
“It's a wonderful recognition and we are very proud to have received it,” Ellen Starry, Clark Metal's director of human resources, said of the Employer of the Year award.
“There's a significant labor shortage of skilled workers for certain jobs right now,” Starry noted. “At Clark Metal, we recognize the importance of joining together with others to share our needs and also be part of the solution.”
Mary Salony, director of planning and grant coordination for the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board, called Clark Metal “an outstanding company. It's a pleasure to work with them in support of the region's workforce.”
Salony said anyone can make a nomination for the Employer of the Year title. A committee then scores and ranking the candidates, she said: “We basically look for how involved applicants are in supporting regional workforce development systems.”
Citing an example of this support, Salony noted Clark Metal is a member of the Indiana County Manufacturing Consortium and has provided worker training programs for their own employees as well as those of other consortium members. “They're not just helping themselves,” she said. “They're helping other employers and their employees, too.”
Most recently, Clark Metal conducted a training program in blueprint reading that was made available to employees of other consortium members as well as its own workers.
According to Starry, professional development for all its employees is considered a critical factor in Clark Metal's continued success. The Blairsville company provides extensive on-the-job training for employees in certain positions, particularly welding. Cross-training and orientation programs also are provided, she said.
Youth workforce development is another key area where Employer of the Year applicants must prove themselves. Salony said, “Clark Metal has an outstanding relationship with the Indiana County Technology Center in helping build a youth workforce pipeline for area employers.”
In addition to offering job shadowing opportunities and cooperative work/study programs for students, she explained, Clark Metal has played host to Manufacturing Day events where students, teachers and community members could get a look at employment opportunities in the manufacturing industry. A tour of the plant is included.
Finally, Salony said applicants must also use the state's job listing program, PA Career Link, for posting available employment opportunities. PA Career Link is a one-stop shopping place for employers and jobseekers to find each other.
In response to the federal government's Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Pennsylvania established the PA Career Link program as well as state and local workforce investment boards.
The Tri-County board is one of 22 regional workforce investment boards in the state.
These regional boards function as policy advisers to the governor. Their purpose is to help build strong workforce development systems that are aligned with the state's education policies and economic development goals.
The Tri-County board members are appointed by the county commissioners. They include representatives the public and private sectors. One of the board members from Indiana County is Carol Fry, director of the Indiana County Technology Center.
“Clark Metal is very involved in a partnership relationship with ICTC,” Fry said. “What we have with them is significant collaboration between the education and business communities to prepare students for the workforce.”
Fry explained that Clark Metal has worked in a cooperative educational program with ICTC since 1994. This program gives students the opportunity to work at the plant while still attending school. Students receive school credit for their work and also receive a paycheck.
Each year, two or three students from ICTC's welding technology, machining and graphics programs have received educational work placements at Clark Metal, Fry said. She noted students are sometimes offered regular employment after they complete their education.
Fry said Clark's staff has also worked with the school to hold mock interviews for students. The company typically sends representatives from the human resources and production so that students can undergo a tiered interview process.
Through a grant program, an ICTC student last year received a $5,000 scholarship from the company to attend Westmoreland County Community College while working at Clark Metal. “This shows their dedication to the improvement of their workers' skills and their willingness to contribute to the education of their workforce,” Fry said.
A representative from Clark Metal also serves as a member of the school's Perkins Advisory Committee. Fry said the purpose of the committee is to help determine how to best enhance students' education in preparation for the workplace. In addition to working with ICTC in Indiana County, Clark Metal also collaborates with technical schools in Westmoreland County.
Started by J. K. Clark almost 60 years ago, the family-owned business has provided services to the defense, electronics, transportation, medical equipment and testing and instrumentation industries. According to the company's website, Clark started the company when his employer at that time, Diamond Metal Products, could not fulfill a government contract for U.S. Navy tool boxes and sold its assets. Clark quickly moved to acquire their machines and got started in the metal fabrication business on his own.
J. K. Clark retired in 1987 and his sons, Jack and Dave, who had worked in the business since childhood, took over the reins. His sons and it was always assumed they would someday run the operation. In 1991 and 1997, their sons, Rob and Dave Jr., also joined the company. Jack Clark has since retired from the company.
As the company grew, it called many Blairsville locations home over the years. It moved to its current location in 1993 when it acquired the Metals Conversion plant in the Serrell Industrial Park, on the eastern edge of Blairsville. Here it was able to more fully consolidate its operations.
Clark Metal Products has been the recipient of several other awards recently. In 2013, the company received the PA Educational Workforce Leadership Award from the state Department of Education. ICTC was also a recipient of this award. Both were recognized for their partnership efforts.
In 2012 and 2013, Clark Metal Products was named one of the Healthiest Employers of Western Pennsylvania by the Pittsburgh Business Times.
Starry said Clark Metal strives to support not only its employees but also the community in which it resides. It does this through a variety of charitable activities. The company will be celebrating its 60th anniversary later this year, she said.
Pam Sagely is a freelance writer.
