Allegheny Bradford Corp., will be expanding its manufacturing
operation on its property along Valley Hunt Club Drive in Lewis
Run.

Corporation President Dan McCune said Monday that construction
of the new 50,000-square-foot Butler building will start today,
with the project slated for completion in the middle of
September.

The expansion will bring 150 new jobs into the region.

Gov. Ed Rendell’s office is expected to make an announcement
regarding the project today, including the state grant package
involved with the project.

“Over the past couple of years we’ve been improving our position
in the marketplace,” McCune said. “Our industry has been slow and
over the last couple of years a number of competitors have gone out
of business. But, what’s happened is the marketplace has started to
heat up and now there is a demand for people that can supply our
type of services and equipment.”

The corporation is a custom equipment fabricator of sanitary
equipment, with its main customer base as the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industries. It also does business in the food,
beverage and electronic industries. Allegheny Bradford has three
operating divisions – Allegheny Bradford, Top Line Process
Equipment Co. and Allegheny Surface Technology.

McCune said the organization has also started a concerted effort
to market and sell the corporation’s equipment overseas.

“Three years ago we started a program to sell equipment into
China and now we’re starting to do that,” McCune said. “Singapore
looks like it could be one of our largest growth areas. This year
we are targeting the Indian market.

“We see a large percentage of our growth coming from overseas
sales in the future.”

In regards to the new expansion, McCune said the building will
contain 40,000-square-feet of manufacturing space and about
10,000-square-feet of office space. McCune said the site also has
the ability for another 40,000-square-foot expansion. The new
building will sit adjacent to the site of the existing Top Line
Process Equipment Co., the former Valley Hunt Club.

Kessel Construction Inc. of Bradford has been awarded the
contract for the project, McCune said, which has been in the
corporation’s long-range plan since about the year 2000.

“Ultimately, the plans call for the building to mean 150
additional jobs for the corporation,” McCune said, adding it
currently has a workforce of 215 people.

Among those positions the corporation will be looking to hire
for include sales people, clerical, welders, machinists, general
laborers, engineering staff, project management and
electricians.

McCune said anyone with an interest in one of the job openings
can contact Allegheny Bradford’s human resources department.

As part of the project, McCune said the corporation will be
receiving Opportunity Grant funding from the state.

“We are happy with the economic package from the state,
especially the grant money for training,” McCune said. “We spend a
lot of money on training people.”

McCune said the organization also appreciates the help the
Bradford Office of Economic and Community Development has offered
and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway’s,
office.

The exact dollar figure for the grant package was not
immediately available Monday night.

According to the Allegheny Bradford Web site, the company was
started in 1962 in Janesville, Wis., to market sanitary products to
the dairy producer industry through a network of distributors.