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Ahlborn is still there today, having turned a deaf ear to better jobs in a market where job-hopping is the rule and not the exception.
'I was a tool designer, but I could lay block, and I helped build this place,' Ahlborn says. That's one reason he stuck so long at the Upper Tyrone Township plant. Ahlborn, 64, an executive assistant in manufacturing, says his long-term service is typical of Williamhouse's 800 workers - many of whom have been with the company for 20 or more years.
Outsiders often refer to the giant Williamhouse plant - it covers 400,000 square feet, leaving visitors hard-pressed to see from one end to the other - as the wedding invitation capital of the world.
But Williamhouse is more than a card business. It makes a whopping 23.5 million envelopes every day, running full-speed five days a week, 24 hours a day. Its array of products is huge - 40,000 different envelope items, counting all the different paper types, grades, substance and weight. They include:
On average, Williamhouse consumes about 380,000 pounds of paper daily, and ships anywhere from 400,000 to 500,000 pounds worth of paper products every day, or about 25 full truckloads. Waste paper is re-sold to paper mills to make tissue, or recycled and used as fiber.
'There's four times as much paper consumed today as there was 10 years ago. We're optimistic about the future because this economy depends upon communication, and the mail is still the most cost-efficient way to communicate and respond,' said Leslie F. Stern, chief operating officer for National Envelope Corp., based in Long Island City, N.Y.
National Envelope acquired the Williamhouse Division of American Pad & Paper Co. in November - a deal that created the country's largest wholesale supplier of business envelopes.
Dallas-based American Pad, which invented the legal pad in 1888, acquired the Williamhouse division from New York-based Williamhouse Regency Inc. in 1995. However, American Pad sought bankruptcy protection last year after bond holders filed an involuntary Chapter 11 petition.
Ahlborn recalls that under Ampad's stewardship, the plant's outlook was bleak at best because the Texas company could never seem to grasp what Williamhouse and envelope-making were all about.
'They practically destroyed the company,' Alhborn says bluntly.
Ed Bornstein of Connellsville is another long-term employee who also welcomed a change in the managerial scenery.
A 35-year veteran working in the dye-cutting department, Bornstein, 60, is also vice president of Local 198 of the United Steelworkers of America, Aluminum, Brick and Glass Division.
The union represents a bargaining unit of about 650 hourly employees at the Williamhouse plant. Their current five-year contract expires in May 2002.
'Personally, I didn't agree with some of their (Ampad's) thinking. National Envelope is more with the program. There's been some changes made, and we're going in the right direction,' Bornstein said.
Stern takes pride in employee loyalty and the resultant low turnover that keeps experienced personnel on the job.
'People stay here 10, 20 or 30 years, and it's testament to the business. We embrace those people, we don't chase them away. People tend to stay where they have dignity and their work is respected,' Stern said.
National Envelope's bid of $110 million cash and $10 million in notes was enough to win bidding for Williamhouse in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., in a court-supervised auction for the assets of the Williamhouse unit.
National Envelope is the largest privately held envelope maker in the United States, with sales of more than $650 million last year. The company employs about 5,000 people.
'It was a joining of two of the best companies in the industry. The Williamhouse name is the jewel of the proprietary (trademark) business. It has a long history, and its name is more than a co-identification - it's also a brand name,' said Stern.
As evidence of the new parent company's commitment, Stern pointed out that a pair of high-speed, open-folding machines that make commercial envelopes have been installed since last November. He declined to show the price tag, but said they cost 'way over six figures apiece.'
More than 100 different makes, models and types of machines are spread over the smooth, spotless factory floor. Some are state-of-the art, and others were built more than 60 years ago.
For example, a set of 'wide range' envelope-making machines are old, but they still maintain their own niche on the floor because they're primarily used for small, specialty jobs in the 'spot' market.
'These were the base of the industry 30 years ago. Actually, you're looking at a bit of history, but they still serve a purpose,' said Jerry Fiano, general manager of the plant. He said despite their advanced age, one machine is capable of churning out 60,000 envelopes in an eight-hour shift.
These same 'wide range' machines came into use during the 1940s and were the first in-line folding machines in the business.
Stern said these particular machines embody two important precepts of the envelope business.
One is speed; the second is to minimize waste.
Contrast between the old and the new is evident by observing an automatic machine cutter. Capable of handling as many as eight rolls of paper, the machine converts the paper run into standard Number 10 size business envelopes - creating 3 million of these types of envelopes daily.
The related greeting card/envelope business is also an important facet of the operation. Here, color is important, and the factory has 'tinters' that apply color to paper. 'We can do any color, both sides of the envelope. The mills don't make paper in these colors,' Fiano said.
Williamhouse also offers a key service to its paper merchant customers. For a stock item, the plant can take an order up to 5 p.m. for next-day service. The company ships about 400 to 500 of these packages daily.
Stern said such customer service is important - and a key reason why the envelope market isn't deluged with imports from Mexico or the Pacific Rim.
'You have to be close to your customer. Transportation and logistics are the key. You can't make envelopes in Mexico, and ship to the Pacific Northwest corridor the next day. ... You would never reach your market quick enough to meet demand,' Stern said.
