Officials of a company formed to develop new technology for the Army will begin limited hiring in March.
Lee Rankin, co-founder of Koppel Fabrication Corp. with Joe Handrahan, said yesterday work will begin in about two months on a prototype of a titanium protection kit. The kit will retrofit Humvees, Strykers and like joint light tactical vehicles to shield the gunners.
Rankin said the work is part of the initial production approval process, done to assure that the product meets the specifications and needs of the military before full production may proceed.
Currently, the parts are being made elsewhere. Rankin declined to say where. They will be assembled and distributed from the former Babcock & Wilcox steel plant on Route 18 near the Beaver-Lawrence county border.
Rankin said the goal is to fabricate the parts at the Route 18 location. He said eight to 10 workers will be needed for “good paying manufacturing jobs.”
He said he could not cite the hourly wage now because it is one of the items still being worked out.
The employees will receive specialized training to work with titanium, which is difficult to work with and requires greater use of technology, Rankin said.
“It’s lightweight and very strong with enhanced ballistic capability for those in the vehicles,” he said. The kits could reduce vehicles’ weight overall by about 25 percent without interfering with their mobility, agility and maneuverability.
Koppel Fabrication was formed by Penn State Special Metals, also headquartered at the Route 18 site, as a subcontractor to focus on this project. Penn State Special Metals officials applied through U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire for funding.
Altmire, who took the oath of office for his second two-year term Monday, said yesterday he learned of the business options at the beginning of his first term throughout the six counties he represents in western Pennsylvania.
“I traveled to various businesses to see what they were doing and I talked to the Army, too,” Altmire said. He also was appointed to serve as chair of the House small business committee.
Altmire secured $1.2 million in funding for this project in September as part of the defense appropriations bill and presented it to Penn State Special Metals last month.
Rankin said he and Handrahan have more than 35 years experience in steel and other manufacturing. He said he’ll be looking for workers with skills and experience in welding, fabricating and metal forming and expects the company will grow. “It’s still very early in the game.”
He said he’ll need workers even if military action slows.
“That’s not an issue,” Rankin said. “Entire vehicles need retrofitting.”
Now based in Cleveland, Rankin said he’s looking forward to returning to the area.
“I’m a Pittsburgher at heart. I was born in Glassport.”
He said this area once had many skilled workers and, “there’s a residual group of talent in the area. We’ve been around long enough to know how to access the talent when we need it.
“We’ve convinced ourselves as a country we can exist on a service economy. I believe in manufacturing, adding one job at a time with a can-do attitude.”
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