Dinner to recognize industries
Local editorials from 50 years ago are being reprinted every Monday and Tuesday in this column. This editorial appeared in the Evening Standard, a predecessor of the 蘑菇视频 on Jan. 31, 1967.
A dinner to recognize industries of the Greater Uniontown area and to honor them for their vital roles as job-makers is an ideal method to pay tribute to them for their numerous contributions to the well-being of the community.
The recognition dinner will be held Thursday night, sponsored by the Greater Uniontown Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Uniontown Industrial Fund.
Thirty-four local industrial and utility companies will receive recognition award certificates at the dinner.
Many of the industries were brought here or have been expanded in cooperation with the industrial fund. Some are in programs which will terminate in large expansion projects this year.
Speaker for the event will be W. F. Rockwell Jr., vice chairman of the board of the Rockwell Manufacturing Co. and president and vice chairman of the board of Rockwell-Standard Corp.
Mr. Rockwell’s firm, which manufactures Rockwell meters, started operation in Uniontown in 1953. Its expansion since 1953 has been phenomenal with the latest addition being in 1965 when a foundry was opened.
New and expanded industry has done much to halt the downward trend of the Greater Uniontown district and the entire county.
The district was losing population, losing jobs, losing buying power when community and industrial leaders banded together to work toward an industrial resurgence.
The progress of the past few years gives some answer to what has happened. In December 1962 there were 35,100 persons working in Fayette County with 5,400 employed in manufacturing industries.
In December 1966 there were 38,800 persons employed in the county with 8,700 in manufacturing positions.
No longer is the district dependent on coal mining alone as its main source of employment. Mining is an important industry with both the U.S. Steel Corp. and the Republic Steel Corp. among those to be honored on Thursday.
Industrial diversification is one of the reasons for the district’s economic betterment.
The Chamber and the Fund are following a trend established in numerous other communities — to honor those who deserve to be recognized.