DECISION MAKER

By Harry Zimbler

Travis Collins is excited to be the new board chair for the Bedford County Development Association. As a business owner in Bedford County, he understands the need to create family-sustaining jobs while maintaining the quality of life he enjoys.

“I am staunchly dedicated to continued economic development in Bedford County,” he said. “That includes retaining jobs, creating jobs and helping the workforce receive the training and education it needs for the jobs of the 21st century. I am also concerned that we work hard to provide opportunities for our young people, to help them remain in Bedford County.”
Collins believes that Bedford County is a wonderful place and wants to be certain that BCDA is working to maintain its special qualities.

“We could have set up our business anywhere,” he said. “But we looked at the big picture. And for us, the big picture meant doing business in a place that was perfect for families, where the workers are far superior to all the other locations that we looked at. Bedford County was that place.”
Collins is the co-founder and co-owner of B.C. Stone, Everett, which now employs more than 60 people.
“There is great romance in marble and granite,” says Collins. “One only has to conjure images of the Italian Renaissance to know that this is so.”

Together with Rodney Bair, Collins, co-founded B.C. Stone and the romance continues. The partners are dedicated to fine craftsmanship and artistry.
Fabricators of custom marble and granite counter tops, fireplace surrounds and other elegant home furnishings, B.C. Stone understands the lure of the material. The company believes that it brings the beauty of nature inside. And they do that with state-of-the art high technology and an experienced staff.

The pair began as fabricators for a company in the Washington, D.C. area. When the opportunity presented itself in 1993, the team headed north to open a new company. “We started in Rodney’s mother-in-law’s garage,” Collins recalled, fondly.

“As we grew as a company, we realized how much access doing business in Bedford County afforded us. We can easily serve customers in Baltimore, D.C., Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Of course we also have customers closer to home in Bedford, Altoona, State College and West Virginia,” Collins said. ~PBC

Way out in front

Creative Pultrusions, World class in Alum Bank

By Harry Zimbler

“We are the second largest pultrusion company in the world,” said Shane Weyant, chief operating officer of Creative Pultrusions. In laymen terms, pultrusion is a manufacturing process that allows for the combination of fiberglass – and like materials – with resins to create incredibly strong, corrosion- resistant products.

Located in the bucolic town of Alum Bank, Creative Pultrusions is taking nothing for granted. It has sought out, and found, partners for the creation of exciting new products and the implementation of new marketing strategies to retain its world-class status
“We are positioning ourselves to stay unique and competitive,” began Dustin Troutman, director of marketing and product development. “We are not going to sit here and let the Chinese put a whuppin’ on us. In fact, we are currently shipping cooling tower systems to Taiwan. That makes us feel really good.”

Both Troutman and Weyant speak with great conviction and passion about the company’s bright future and believe it can compete successfully in the global marketplace. They cite the strong, loyal, hardworking local workforce from Bedford and surrounding counties including Blair and Cambria. Troutman and Weyant were born and raised in Bedford County as was a majority of the company’s employees.

Big markets for Creative Pultrusions include the arenas of non-conductive, construction, electrical and infrastructure products.
“We are very diversified, “ said Weyant. “Wherever there is a need for non-corrosive or environmentally-safe materials we will explore products to meet it.”

Creative Pultrusions is a world leader in the use of new technology applications and resins. “We have developed key market strategies,” Troutman began. “We are getting away from original equipment manufacturers and moving toward taking things to market ourselves.”

The company spent seven years on a patent for what it calls Superloc, a superlative system used for bulkheads along canals, lakes and other bodies of water. The patent is currently pending.
Together with its partners, Composite Cooling Solutions and Baltimore Aircool, Creative Pultrusions is taking a new water-cooling system to market. “This is a big area of growth for us,” said Troutman. “It’s a huge, huge market.

About three to four years ago the company began to explore the use of non-traditional resins to increase the strength of its products. “So by optimizing the composite, we can make things that are double the strength while decreasing the weight. For example, parts for truck trailers. We were also able to design cross arms for utility poles that are 30 percent lighter and twice as strong as traditional cross arms,” Weyant explained.

In addition to these advances, Creative Pultrusions is working on an exciting product – a new guardrail system for roadways. It is safer, stronger, and redirects the vehicle. Creative Pultrusions has successfully tested the system and met the stringent regulations of the Federal Highway Administration.

“We are doing the last development of the system and it will be marketed by late summer of 2005,” said Weyant. “Over the life cycle of the program it is more economical and will do less damage to vehicles. And frankly, it will save more lives.”

“ We are controlling our own future,” Troutman stated. “ Instead of relying on middle men, we want to take things to market. We think that’s our destiny. We have seen a lot of change. We knew we had to change, too.” ~PBC