CRESSONA, Pa. — The geometric shapes created by the roofs of Hydro Extrusions in Cressona have been a part of the horizon in Schuylkill County since World War II.
"After the war, the government used it as a reclamation facility, and then after they reclaimed all the commodities they brought back from the war efforts, they sold it to Alcoa,' explained regional vice president Mike Hammer.
Evidence of the company's history was on display in a slide show that played on the stage of a ceremony where leaders at Hydro told county and state leaders about new investments at the aluminum extrusion manufacturing plant.
"So we're cutting the ribbon on a brand new state-of-the-art indirect extrusion press. So we make aluminum extrusions. That basically supplies every industry out there in the U.S., " explained Hammer.
The press is a 50 million dollar investment by the company that increases productivity and replaces equipment made in the 1930s.
A second investment? A new 49-million-dollar aluminum recycling operation inside the plant.
"This is a concept in my head for about 19 years," said recycling manager Ron Jordan. "But then I got a team on the floor, I got hourly team members, about five, I got supervisors all sitting in the room getting the concept together, and the idea of bunkers and shredder inside the building rather than outside, it's less time-consuming. It was all the hourly team members and my supervisors."
While employees tell Newswatch 16 the investments give them pride and confidence in their place of work, state economic leaders say this is great for the commonwealth's economy.
"This is job security for our people," said the Secretary of the State Department of Community and Economic Development, Rick Siger. "It's national security as we build important things here in the United States and have access to those supply chains here on American soil."
"So it's great that the company Hydro is investing the money that they are. It just shows the future of the company is going to be here for a while, for a while, for a lot of people from Schuylkill County and the area counties come here to work," added Jordan.
At least 14 new jobs will be created with the new recycling operation in Cressona that Hydro hopes will last another 80 years for folks in this community.