                  
|
DEMOGRAPHICS
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Median
Household income:
|
$46,700 |
| Civilian
Labor Force: |
23,400 |
| Employed: |
22,100 |
| Unemployed: |
1,300 |
| Unemployement
rate: |
5.4% |
| Population,
2005 estimate: |
46,486 |
| Percent
change from previous
2005 census: |
-0.5% |
|
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TOP
EMPLOYERS
(latest
data as of Q1 2003):
|
1.
Mifflin County School
District
2. Lewistown Hospital
3. Standard Steel LLC
4. CNH NorthAmerica Inc.
5. Overhead Door Corp. |
| Source: Juniata
Valley Area Chamber
of Commerce |
|
Square
Miles: 411.9
County Seat: Lewistown
No. of corporate parks: 2
Transportation: Those
traveling through Mifflin
County can travel on
U.S. Route 22, U.S. Route
322 and U.S. Route 522.
The Mifflin County Airport
also provides service.
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DECISION
MAKER
Jim
Kennedy
Executive Director
By Harry Zimbler
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Juniata
Valley Boy Scout Council
The Juniata Valley Boy Scout
Council, headquartered in Milroy,
serves boys and adults in Centre,
Mifflin, Juniata, and Huntingdon
counties. Its executive director,
Jim Kennedy, has proven to be
a steady and sure captain leading
the organization through some
major challenges over the past
year. Kennedy has more than 22
years of experience working for
the Boy Scouts of America, serving
councils in Ohio, Michigan, and
Massachusetts before coming to
Pennsylvania.
“While the Juniata Valley Boy
Scout council is a non-profit
organization, it functions as
a business and has a tremendous
impact on the region it serves
in central Pennsylvania,” said
Kennedy.
Slightly more than a year ago,
the council was facing some of
the most difficult issues in
its history. Many felt it needed
to merge with a Harrisburg-area
council in order to survive.
Today, it remains independent
and is growing steadily under
Kennedy’s guidance.
“Our volunteers believed we could
stay on our own. We have balanced
our budget and our summer camp
attendance has expanded,” Kennedy
stated. “We have received
wonderful feedback on the camps.
We had four weeks of resident
Boy Scout camp, three weeks of
day camp and two weeks of camp
for Cub Scouts.”
The Juniata Valley Council has
a $700,000 yearly budget and
employs seven people year round.
Its ranks swell to more than
50 during the summer season.
The council owns 30 acres at
the Seven Mountains Camp along
Route 322 as well as its headquarters
near Milroy.
“We served 2,857 youth and 1,400
adults the past year. The youth
population is not really growing
in this area, overall,” he
said. “So our greatest
challenge is developing a marketing
strategy that will allow us to
reach more of the young people.
We are not able to advertise
through the school districts
the way we used to. That is true
for all youth organizations.”
The council’s 110 scouting
units – Boy Scout troops,
Cub Scout packs, and Venture
crews of teenaged boys and girls – make
a real difference in the four-county
region.
“Last November, Boy Scouts collected
more than 122,000 non-perishable
food items for local food banks,” said
Kennedy. “That’s
a dramatic impact. Our Eagle
Scouts alone contributed more
than 17,000 hours of community
service to the region last year.
We had 54 Eagle projects that
saw boys do a variety of conservation,
beautification, educational,
and informational projects.”
Kennedy also noted that a Boy
Scout troop from Howard, in northeastern
Centre County, spent 10 days
in Mississippi helping a town
recover from the ravages of Hurricane
Katrina.
“Studies by the pollster Louis
Harris show that boys in scouting
programs are better educated,
more likely to make good decisions,
and earn higher incomes,” said
Kennedy. “I think that
our program contributes a great
deal to the quality of life in
this area. Now we are looking
for ways to expand, to become
more diverse and more representational
of the communities we serve.”
Kennedy encouraged businesses
in the region to contact the
Juniata Valley Council to discuss
ways that they can help keep
the organization healthy. ~PBC |
|
| PROFILE |
|
Corvette
America opens new facility
By Harry Zimbler
“We want to create a
destination in Mifflin County,” explained
Susie Cannon, advertising and
marketing supervisor for Corvette
America in Reedsville. The
company held an open house
to introduce its new facility,
including a distribution center
and a retail store.
Corvette America’s new
headquarters is a 200,000-square-foot
building on 37 acres. It is
six times larger than its former
home outside of Boalsburg and
offers the company plenty of
room for future growth.
The nation’s leading
manufacturer and seller of
aftermarket Corvette parts,
accessories, and interiors,
Corvette America was founded
in a Boalsburg, Centre County,
home garage in 1977.
“Dan LeKander founded the company
(and remains its owner) when
he realized that he could sell
his Corvette’s parts
for more money that the car
itself,” said Cannon.
Today, the company employs
130 at its manufacturing plant,
corporate offices, and retail
shop, all in Mifflin County.
The retail store is an exciting
and colorful place that offers
Corvette parts and products.
There are also plenty of clothing
items and accessories that
identify the proud Corvette
owner. The shop is an expansive
4,000-square-foot area that
features a similar high-tech
and chrome design that is used
in the Harley Davidson plant
in York.
“Next year we will celebrate
our 30th anniversary,” said
Cannon. “We expect that
to be a wonderful time for
the company as well as our
customers and fans.”
Corvette America stocks leather
and vinyl in every color ever
made by General Motors. “The
first Corvettes were made in
1953,” Cannon explained. “And
we have parts and accessories
for them.”
Tours of Corvette America’s
separate 50,000 square-foot
manufacturing plant were included
in the company’s open-house
celebration.
A research and development
area allows the company’s
craftsmen to create reproduction
molds and prepare for accurate
vacuum forming. Also included
on the tour were stops at the
facility’s paint booth,
foam injection area, and finishing
area.
The company currently offers
more than 30,000 products for
Corvette automobiles from the
1953 to 2006 models.
According to Cannon, 75 percent
of the company’s business
is wholesale. The company supplies
more than 5,000 Corvette dealers
with products, including many
customers in Canada. ~PBC
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©Copyright
2007 King Publishing, LLC
1305 West College Avenue • State College, PA 16801
814.867.2222 |
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