Economic changes shift hierarchy of county's largest employers

By Jennifer Thomas

As always, the list of Centre County’s top 40 employers continues to change to reflect shifts in the county’s businesses and economy. Each year, some employers rise — this year, for example, the addition of 55 employees pushed Minitab from 30th to 24th on the list — while others, faced with difficult economic decisions, mergers or other business changes, drop as their work force shrinks.

The following is a list of the 40 largest employers in the county, based on the number of people the companies report employing within Centre County:

1. Penn State Graham B. Spanier, president For the fall semester of 2007, the university reported a total of 23,744 employees at the University Park campus. Of those, 11,893 were full time and 11,851 were part time and student staff, according to the University Budget Office Web site. Of the full-time employees, 31 were in executive positions, while 3,071 were labeled as academic. More than 6,736 were classified simply as staff. Of the part time, more than 8,600 were student positions, including graduate assistants and work study positions.

2. State College Area School District, 131 W. Nittany Ave. Patricia Best, superintendent The school district employs 1,385 workers; 1,134, are full time and 251 are part time. Full-time jobs increased by 42, while part-time positions declined by 31. The number of students fell to 7,121 students, a decline of 76.

3. State government Edward G. Rendell, governor As of June 2007, the Center for Workforce Information and Analysis said there were about 1,375 state employees in Centre County, not including Penn State workers. A breakdown of the number of employees at various agencies, such as the state police and local Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Transportation offices, was not available.

4. Mount Nittany Medical Center, 1800 E. Park Ave., State College Thomas Murray, president and CEO The medical center employs 1,225 workers at the hospital; 758 are full-time employees, 237 are part-time and 230 are wage payroll employees. This number represents an increase of 20 employees, including 19 full-time hires.

5. County government, Willowbank Building, Bellefonte Steve Dershem, Jon Eich and Rich Rogers, commissioners The county has 875 employees on its payroll, including 724 full-time employees, 67 part-time employees and 41 on call — someone who is called in if a main employee is off.

6. Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club, State College A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company has 840 full- and part-time employees in its three stores in Centre County. Here’s a breakdown: * 350 at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, 165 North Atherton Place. A manager search is ongoing. * 370 workers at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, 373 Benner Pike. Bill Frantz is the manager. * 120 workers at Sam’s Club, 381 Benner Pike. Thomas Prunty is the manager. A breakdown of the number of full-time versus part-time employees was not available.

7. Raytheon Co., Science Park Road, State College Elizabeth J. Hale, site executive, processing systems director The plant employs 517; 500 are full-time employees and 17 are part-time. Raytheon’s State College plant is part of the Intelligence and Information Systems division of the Raytheon Co., a Massachusetts-based business that provides signal processing and information management solutions.

8. S&A Homes and Subsidiaries 2121 Old Gatesburg Road, State College Bob Poole, CEO/president S&A and its subsidiaries, which include Allied Mechanical and Electrical, Berrena’s Mechanical Services, and Poole Anderson Construction, employ about 500 people, both full and part time.

9. Weis Markets Weis Markets employs about 460 full- and part-time workers at its five local stores in State College, Bellefonte, Philipsburg and Ferguson and College townships.

10. Wegmans, 345 Colonnade Blvd., State College Steve Gallucci, manager The store has 452 employees; 109 are full-time workers and 343 are part-time.

11. Federal government George W. Bush, president The federal government reported 450 employees in Centre County working for 18 agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and the postal service as of October 2006.

12. Bellefonte Area School District, 318 N. Allegheny St., Bellefonte James T. Masullo Jr., superintendent The school district employs 444. Those include 27 administrative, 247 faculty and 170 support staff. The district added just one job in 2007. The district has 2,975 students, down by 35 from last year.

13. HRI Inc., 1750 W. College Ave., Suite 2, State College John Kulka, president and CEO The company provides heavy, highway and site construction services in three regions — Johnstown, Williamsport/Bloomsburg and State College — and operates eight asphalt plants. There are approximately 440 employees in the State College region.

14. Josten’s Printing and Publishing, Science Park Road, State College Gerry Hanscom, plant manager The company has 434 workers, 204 of whom are full-time employees, down six full-time positions from 2006. The other 230 are seasonal or temporary workers, down from from 264 last year. Some changes in technology have affected the total number of employees, Hanscom said. The printing firm specializes in yearbooks for colleges and universities and high, middle and elementary schools. The company also produces books and other printed products.

15. AccuWeather, 385 Science Park Road, State College Joel N. Myers, founder and president, Barry Myers, CEO AccuWeather employs 400 people; 368 are full-time employees, 27 are part-time and five are interns. Total employment increased slightly from last year.

16. Shaner Hotel Group Limited Partnership, 1965 Waddle Road, State College Lance T. Shaner, chairman The business has 371 employees. Of those, 84 work in the corporate office, one of which is part-time. There are 160 full-time, 58 part-time and 69 on-call workers at Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn and Suites, Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Toftrees Golf Resort and Conference Center. That’s an increase of 37 positions from 2006.

17. Geisinger Medical Group, Centre County Dr. Raymond Nungesser, regional medical director The health facility has 365 employees; 303 are full-time workers and 62 are part-time. These numbers include new physicians recruited to the medical group’s State College practices in OB/GYN, hematology/oncology, gastroenterology and internal medicine, a spokeswoman said. Geisinger has four locations in Bellefonte, State College and Philipsburg.

18. McDonald’s, Centre County Dan Kiley, McDonald’s Operations Director The restaurant has about 313 employees at five locations in Centre County, an increase of 13 since 2006. Restaurants are at 442 E. College Ave., 2167 S. Atherton St.; 2821 E. College Ave., 1615 N. Atherton St., all in State College and 802 N. Eagle Valley Road in Milesburg.

19. Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District, 200 Short St., Philipsburg Charles Young, superintendent The school district employs 305 workers. No breakdown of full- and part-time employees was available. The district has 2,008 students, down nearly 40 from 2006.

20. Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc., 1952 Waddle Road, State College Dan Hawbaker, president Hawbaker has about 1,300 employees statewide, up 100 from last year. Of those, 300 work full time and year-round in Centre County.

21. Bald Eagle Area School District, 751 S. Eagle Valley Road, Wingate Daniel F. Fisher, superintendent The school district employs 290 full-time workers. It has about 1,973 students.

22. Centre Medical and Surgical Associates, 1850 E. Park Ave, State College John McQueary, chief operating officer. The multi-specialty internal medicine group has about 273 employees — including 49 physicians — and 230 full-time employees.

23. Supelco Inc., Supelco Park, Bellefonte J. Russel Gant, vice president of operations The company has 277 employees, of which just one is part-time. That’s up by 15 positions from last year.

24. Minitab Inc., 1829 Pine Hall Road, State College Barbara F. Ryan, president and CEO Minitab has 273 employees; 256 are full-time and 17 are interns, consultants and temporary employees. That figure represents an increase of 55 positions, with 41 of them being full-time.

25. Giant Food Stores, 2222 E. College Ave. and 225 Northland Center, State College The company employs 268 workers at its State College locations, with most working part-time, down from 280 in 2006. The corporate headquarters is in Carlisle.

26. Omega Financial Corp., Centre County Donita Koval, CEO The company has 290 employees at locations in Bellefonte, Boalsburg, Centre Hall, Lemont, Milesburg, Millheim, State College, Snow Shoe, Philipsburg, Port Matilda and Zion. There are 269 full-time employees and 21 part-time as of Jan. 8. This is a decrease of 23 full-time positions. Omega will become First National Bank later this year after a merger with the Mercer County financial institution is finalized.

27 Restek, 110 Benner Circle, Bellefonte Don McCandless, president and head coach The employee-owned company has about 260 workers. Of these, 250 are full-time and 10 are part-time. The company hired 25 employees in 2007 and plans to hire 40 more in 2008. Restek Corp. manufactures high-quality products for the gas and liquid chromatography analytical markets, as well as products focused on surface passivation for many applications.

28. The Meadows Psychiatric Center and Universal Community Behavioral Health, 132 The Meadows Drive, Centre Hall Larry Grimes, CEO In Centre County, the Meadows employs 260 people — a number matched outside of Centre County. Of those in Centre County, 187 are full-time, 22 are part-time and there is a per diem pool of 51.

29. Hotel State College, 100 W. College Ave., State College Mike Desmond and John Cocolin, partners The company has 260 employees; about 75 are full-time for its ventures, which include The Corner Room and Allen Street Grill, Indigo and Zeno’s Pub.

30. Brookline Health Care, 1930 Cliffside Drive, State College Clifford R. Coldren, general partner The health care business has 225 employees. Of the current employees, 156 are full-time workers and 69 are part-time.

31./tie Foxdale Village, 500 E. Marylyn Ave., State College Bill James, executive director The continuing-care retirement community has about 220 employees, about half of which are part-time. It is a nonprofit Quaker-directed facility.

31./tie Windy Hill Village, 100 Dogwood Drive, Philipsburg Dan Krieger, executive director The continuing-care retirement community employs 220 people, split between full- and part-time. The newly opened campus of the Presbyterian Homes in the Presbytery of Huntingdon offers independent living, assisted living and skilled care and rehabilitation services.

33. Penns Valley Area School District, 4528 Penns Valley Road, Spring Mills Brian Griffith, superintendent The district has 214 employees — 202 are full-time and 12 are part time. This represents an increase of 11 full-time and one part-time positions over 2006. The district has 1,594 students.

34. CCDA Waters, 1 AquaPenn Drive, Milesburg Tim Goodwin, plant manager The bottled-water manufacturer, formerly Aqua Penn Water Co., employs between 200 and 250 employees full time at its Milesburg facility. It is an offshoot of the Coca-Cola Co.

35. Target Corp., 315 Colonnade Blvd., State College Brad Swanson, manager Target employs about 210 full- and part-time employees at its State College store.

36. Lowe’s Cos. Inc., 104 Valley Vista Drive, State College Chuck Walizer, administrative manager The home improvement store has about 188 full- and part-time employees.

37. State College Borough, State College Tom Fountaine, borough manager The borough has 182 full-and part-time employees. About 15 to 20 of them are part-time.

38. Graymont, Pleasant Gap and Bellefonte Marc Messenger, plant manager Graymont has 175 full-time employees in its limestone-producing operations in Centre County, which include the ConLime facility, as well as locations in Pleasant Gap and Bellefonte.

39. HealthSouth Nittany Valley Rehabilitation Hospital, 550 West College Ave., Pleasant Gap Susan Hartman, CEO HealthSouth has about 169 employees in Centre County, 31 of which are part-time or per diem. It provides physical rehabilitation for inpatients and outpatients as well as orthotics, prosthetics and skilled services.

40. Woodcraft Industries, 595 E. Rolling Ridge Drive, Bellefonte Jack Campbell, owner/creator of dreams Woodcraft has 153 employees, of which 150 are full-time and three are part-time. The company manufactures and distributes real wood, ready-to-finish furniture.

This list was compiled by CDT staff writer Jennifer Thomas with information provided by company representatives in late 2007 and early 2008. It may differ from the state Department of Labor and Industry’s list, which is compiled on a quarterly basis, because not all companies chose to provide information. This list and ranking is specific to the number of employees the employer has in Centre County.