Latest news with #JWFIndustries
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'It's such a blessing': Johnstown Navy veteran selected to receive free new home through community initiative
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A veteran has been selected to receive a brand-new free house through a collaborative project of the Polacek Veteran Home Initiative, Vision Together 2025 and Hosanna Industries. Darren Hill, who served in the Navy from 1987 to 1994, was picked after a panel of representatives from local veterans' organizations privately interviewed five finalists Saturday. He currently lives in the Elks Flood City Lodge 371 building in Johnstown. 'It's such a blessing for me and my daughter to be able to move into a place that comfortable in the stage of her life right now,' Hill said, "because she's getting ready to start high school and she can just focus on school instead of where I stay at now, because I stay on top of a lodge where they play the music downstairs and all that, so it's kind of noisy." The application process was open to honorably discharged veterans from Cambria and Somerset counties with dependents, who met other criteria regarding military service, community involvement and personal finances. Hill volunteers with the Elks Lodge and St. James Missionary Baptist Church. 'All those countless hours of helping people and doing good work is paying off for me,' Hill said. 'I'm happy. I'm so happy.' The home, which will be constructed on Somerset Street in Johnstown, will be gifted by the Polacek Veteran Home Initiative, led by JWF Industries CEO and Chairman Bill Polacek. 'Bill has a very respectful understanding of veterans and service members because a good portion of his business is involved in that,' said retired Army Col. Jeff Pounding, who helped organize the application and selection process. 'And he has a very good sense of honor.' The entire process is expected to move quickly. Vision is currently going through the legal steps of acquiring the property and getting it prepared for construction. Allegheny County-based Hosanna Industries is expected to do a "blitz build" from July 14-17. A foundation will be put into place before that time. Then, over four days, volunteers plan to construct an entirely new home that will be ready to move into – with flowers on the table and towels in the bathroom – on July 17. 'I'll literally be in a new home by the end of the month of July,' Hill said. 'I can't ask for nothing better than that, I'll tell you. God is so good.' It will be a 1,000-square-foot, three-bedroom ranch house. 'We've done this several hundred times, but it's always a leap of faith,' said Johnstown-area native Rev. Donn Ed, founder of Hosanna Industries. 'We always hope and pray that it's all going to work well, and it always has. "I don't want to minimize the effort. It's a monumental effort on the part of hundreds of people to make all those pieces fit together properly in the right sequence at the right time. This blitz-building procedure that Hosanna has kind of invented, it's extremely time-critical. 'From day one until the very end, every moment is accounted for. There can't be any slop in the gears because there's not enough allowance of time to permit it. Everything's got to be right on.' About 150 volunteers are needed. Even people without construction skills can help in other ways, such as cooking or donating landscaping materials. Anybody interested in participating can contact Hosanna Industries at 724- 770-0262. 'People who know nothing about home construction are welcome to volunteer, because their energies will be properly channeled into productive results by the Hosanna team,' Ed said. 'Skilled volunteers are also needed: block layers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, drywall mechanics. All of these are very much needed and invited to join in this unique community building venture.' This is the first home in Vision's plan to construct 21 new houses throughout Johnstown, using revolving funds provided by community organizations through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development's Neighborhood Partnership Program tax credit initiative. The other houses will be sold to people, unlike the first home that is free to the selected veteran. 'The ones going forward are for anybody,' Vision Together 2025 Executive Director Robert Forcey said. 'In fact, that's kind of a misconstrued assumption that a lot of people have been making that these are only for low-income families. "We made them affordable enough for somebody that they should be able to afford it on low- to middle-income. But for these houses, we've had applicants all the way from a first-year graduate from UPJ (the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown) all the way to a couple that's been renting for 30 years and they want to move into their first house for the first time.' Forcey said one of the goals of the first free house is to 'show everybody that it's a viable project and it's going to move forward.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Veterans home chooses veteran for new home in Johnstown
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Veterans Community Panel concluded interviews for the Polacek Veterans Home. This is in part due to JWF Industries announcing the initiative to give a veteran in Cambria or Somerset counties a home at no cost. Applicants had to fit a set of criteria to qualify for the initiative. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: JWF Industries offers free housing for Cambria, Somerset County veterans The Veterans Community Panel consisted of nine representatives from local veteran outreach organizations. The panel consisted of: Mark Fiorito, Special Forces Association Dave Wagner, DAV Savannah Dickey, Somerset County Veterans Affairs Anita Moore, Representing NG/Reserve Veterans Josh Hauser, Veterans Community Initiatives Skip Steiner, American Legion District 20 Dave Seymour, VFW District 26 Kim Porster, VLP Housing Bruce Jordan, NAACP Veteran Committee 'We want to bring a leader, a veteran leader, into a community, give them a home for their contributions and allow them to carry forward and help support the community that they're going to be living in,' Jeff Pounding, the lead of the panel, said. The panel received more applications than expected for the home. Ten candidates were selected for the first round of interviews, followed by selecting the top five from that list for a second round of interviews. 'We've given them the questions already that we're going to ask so they feel comfortable,' Pounding said. 'They've been able to ask their family what they should answer. So when they come in, they don't have to be stressed.' The winner was chosen after the second round of interviews Saturday, but the name has not been released to the public. That person will receive a house on an empty plot of land on Somerset Street in Johnstown. The house design will be presented in front of the Johnstown City Council on June 4, with a vote on the design happening a week after. The construction of the foundation and utility lines will start afterwards. With the help from Hosana Industries, a Christian charitable initiative that was awarded the contracting job, they plan to start construction on the house on July 14 with over 50 veterans helpng to build the structure using a 'blitz build', which Pounding says will take four days to complete the construction of the house. 'We're kind of in the preparation stage of it. We have to consolidate two lots into one so that we have a bigger footprint for the house to sit on and a bigger yard for people to enjoy,' Vision Together 2025 Executive Director Robert Forcey said. The primary objective of the initiative is to address the issue of abandoned properties throughout the city. The veteran's home aims to add a spark to the rest of the area, helping to revamp the neighborhood. 'This past year alone, we've given out $150,000 in grants, $50,000 to new business recruitment grants, $50,000 to existing facade grants for businesses and $50,000 for repairing people's houses here,' Forcey said. 'While we're looking towards the future and trying to build more houses, folks still have to fix the houses that they've got. So we're trying to help out with all of those pieces as we move forward.' Once construction is complete, the house will be dedicated with a ceremony on July 17, the same day the winning family moves in. And over the next six years, the initiative will look to build 21 homes in that timeframe, adding one additional home each year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Johnstown companies awarded $256 million in military defense contracts
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — Three Johnstown manufacturing companies were awarded contracts from multiple military defense and commercial companies. JWF Industries, Enterprise Ventures Corporation and Concurrent Technologies Corporation were given multiple contracts for manufacturing projects and advancements in military technology for nearly all branches of the military, resulting in $256 million. JWF accounted for $166 million while Enterprise Ventures and Concurrent Technologies footed the additional $90 million to the area. 'It allows us to take solutions that we developed for one branch, and we're able to share that with other branches to help them become more cost-effective and efficient,' President and CEO of Concurrent Technologies Ed Sheehan Jr. said. Johnstown students preview drone emergency service program The announcement was made during a press conference on the third day of the Showcase for Commerce in Johnstown. Bred as a steel and coal town in the years prior, officials now see a chance to evolve. 'We're no longer dependent on two major industries like coal and steel,' Sheehan said. 'We depend on manufacturing capability, advanced manufacturing processes. We also count on financial institutions. Our health care industry is the largest employer in the region, but we also have universities and colleges. We also have a lot of other businesses that help the overall health of our economy. And so I think we're in a much better position today than we were 50 years ago.' 'There's a lot of veterans working in these companies, and those values are all there,' Linda Thomson, the president of JARI, said. 'So, it just makes sense that we are such a strong player in this marketplace.' The contracts rolling in will not only add money to the area but opportunities for growth. Officials mentioned more jobs in the area, helping boost the economy and revitalize the area. 'It completely means retention of great talent,' Thomson said. 'How that we don't lose talent that's already here, and that we can attract additional talent to the region.' 'We're part of an ecosystem here in the region that allows other defense companies to continue to grow and benefit from the success that we heard today,' Sheehan said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Technical.ly
09-05-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
Companies helping workers build wealth find strategic benefits along the way
From matching 401(k)s to building college pipelines, business leaders say doing good by employees can be good for business, too. Economic mobility demands that companies go beyond wages and benefits to support long-term employee success, with transparency, intention and equity, panelists said at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Economic Mobility Summit earlier this month. Structure varies from company to company, but shares a common goal of promoting equity and stability through workplace investment. In short: Mobility isn't just a policy issue — it's a leadership one, according to the panelists. 'When you succeed, you have a responsibility to help the community,' said William Polacek, CEO of manufacturing firm JWF Industries. 'And when you help the community, you get a return as well.' Polacek spoke from personal experience. His company has long prioritized workforce development, partnering with local high schools to create early job pipelines and matching up to 10% of employees' 401(k)s. At Crayola, however, it's about culture and connection. President and CEO Peter Ruggiero said Crayola works with United Way of the Lehigh Valley and Lafayette College to help children see what's possible, from literacy programs to a chance to visit a college campus. Crayola's challenge, Ruggiero said, is attracting and retaining workers. Most hires start as temps and grow into full-time roles, supported by tuition assistance for college or graduate degrees. Incentives are tied to clear, achievable goals. 'Imagine their loyalty to the brand and the company,' he said. 'Imagine their knowledge of how we manufacture, our culture and how we operate.' Economic mobility support at every level Other businesses, like Amalgamated Bank, take a structural approach to address all levels of the economic mobility pipeline, according to Priscilla Sims Brown, the bank's president and CEO. The company's commitment to economic mobility starts with its own employees. For example, implementing a $15 minimum wage in 2015, with continued increases since. Stock options and benefit plans round out the package. The institution partners with organizations aligned with its values that also recognize the intersectionality of the wealth gap and wealth building, Brown said. 'If you're thinking about [the wealth gap], you can't think about it in a vacuum,' she said. 'There's health disparities which contribute to the wealth gap. There's educational barriers that contribute to the wealth gap.' Incentivising companies to do good For Damien Dwin, founder and CEO of private investment firm Lafayette Square, providing economic incentives to companies is key. Companies that provide services to employees, such as healthcare and retirement benefits, will get an interest rate step down, for example. Access to company data, like how much money employees make and how many are enrolled in benefits, can help Dwin come up with a personalized strategy to help companies reduce turnover, he said. 'If we can get turnover down, if we can get healthcare and retirement benefits up, workers will not only be more productive,' Dwin said. 'Society will be better off, and to us, that is the essence of economic mobility.' Efforts to keep employees engaged require consistent attention, but being transparent about the goals of the company can help, Ruggiero said. 'Transparency about what the objectives are for the organization,' he said. 'To set targets against that, and to incentivize all of your employees to chase that.' Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Johnstown fighting against blighted properties to revitalize area
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — Officials are starting up a fight against dilapidated housing in the area. Over 600 city lots face different problems, forcing the city to close down those properties. Broken glass, caved-in roofs and unmaintained grass lots litter each street and city block. 'There's rodents and there's problems, with who stays in, in the building,' Cambria County Commissioner Keith Rager said. 'So it poses a lot of problems.' 'They don't want anybody to get hurt. They don't want anything to happen with that,' Vision Together 2025 Executive Director Robert Forcey said. $800k awarded for historic building project in Philipsburg These problems are present in cities that lie in the Rust Belt of the nation, where steel towns that were prominent for the industry have moved away from. One neighboring city that was affected is Youngstown, Ohio. Johnstown officials took a field trip to Youngstown to see the work they have done to combat dilapidated housing. Their observations of what those officials have done gave them a blueprint of what to do. 'They did one at a time, and they showed us the different places they went,' Rager said. 'Then they moved into where they're at now. They do an entire block remodeling where they'll do three or four houses here, do the sewer and do the entire block.' 'We've devoted $15,000 this year in to making sure that there are lots that are mowed all the way all over the city of Johnstown,' Forcey said. 'The second thing that we're doing is obviously with those 600 vacant lots in the city as we start building houses under the neighborhood partnership program that we've got, that's going to start to activate at least 21 vacant lots in the area at this time.' As each house gets built, the sale will go back toward building a new house in a Fibonacci-esque style. The first home will look to be valued at around $100,000, the same amount as it costs to build the structure. 'After we sell it to the person, put it back into the program,' Forcey added. 'So in essence, the second year I have $200,000 and then $300,000 the third year, $400,000 the fourth year, $500,000 the fifth year, and $600,000 last year.' Action has started to revitalize the area. At the beginning of the month, JWF Industries announced that they were awarding a free house to a veteran who is eligible according to their criteria. READ MORE: JWF Industries offers free housing for Cambria, Somerset County veterans CEO and Chairman Bill Polacek sees how creating one house in the city will create a domino effect for the rest of the area. 'Once you start something, you create an initiative,' Polacek said. 'You create hope and you create people believing in our community. People will start thinking differently.' The idea to fight off the blight is a long and tough road ahead. But Forcey knows that for the area to come alive again, it needs its villages to support it. 'It's going to take every organization working together in the city, coming together and deciding to support this project,' Forcey said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
