The top 40 employers in Centre County

1. Penn State

University Park

President: Eric Barron

What: A public research university with an estimated 44,814 student enrollment.

Centre County employees: 26,353 including 12,839 full-time; 5,640 part-time and 7,874 student or work-study employees.

Previous rank: 1

Contact: 865-4700

2. Mount Nittany Health

1800 E. Park Ave., State College

President/CEO: Steve Brown

What: A regional health system that includes Mount Nittany Medical Center, a 260-bed acute care facility, and Mount Nittany Physician Group, a practice with more than 120 health care providers throughout the region.

Centre County employees: 2,289

Previous rank: 2

Contact: 231-7000

3. State government

Harrisburg

Governor: Tom Wolf

What: State government has a 2014-15 annual budget of $29.1 billion, an increase from $28.37 billion in 2013-14, that is not under the purview of federal or local authorities.

Centre County employees: 1,697

Previous rank: 3

Contact: 717-787-2500

4. State College Area School District

131 W. Nittany Ave., State College

Superintendent: Bob O’Donnell

What: The school district educates about 6,751 students in the Centre Region with a 2014-15 budget of $125,926,243

Centre County employees: 1,203. This includes 1,043 full-time and 160 part-time employees.

Previous rank: 4

Contact: 231-1011

5. Wal-Mart Associates Inc.

State College

What: A retail business that manages discount department stores around the world with about 11,088 locations worldwide, and 2.2 million employees.

Centre County employees: About 725 depending on the season at two Wal-Mart stores and Sam’s Club. The Wal-Mart on Benner Pike employs about 300, while the North Atherton Street location employs about 285. Sam’s Club employs about 140.

Previous rank: 6

Contact: 479-273-4000

6. Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc.

1952 Waddle Road, State College

President: Dan Hawbaker

What: An excavation company operating 31 quarries and nine asphalt production facilities across the state, New York’s Southern Tier and eastern Ohio. Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. offers services such as asphalt paving, road construction, gas well service and construction, as well as engineering design services.

Centre County employees: 700

Previous rank: 5

Contact: 237-1444

7. Weis Markets Inc.

Sunbury

CEO: Jonathan H. Weis

What: A supermarket chain based in Sunbury, including locations in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, West Virginia and New Jersey. There are five locations in Centre County.

Centre County employees: 656 (remained unchanged from last year)

Previous rank: 7

Contact: 866-999-9347

8. Centre County government

Bellefonte

Commissioners: Steve Dershem, Chris Exarchos and Michael Pipe

What: The county runs governmental functions not otherwise taken care of by either state or local government. The offices include planning, elections and the Recorder of Deeds and the Register of Wills. The 2015 county budget is $80,890,246, of which $7.5 million is put toward a capital reserve fund.

Centre County employees: 597

Previous rank: 8

Contact: 355-6700

9. Geisinger Medical Group

Centre County

Regional medical director: Dr. Raymond Nungesser.

What: A branch of Danville-based Geisinger Health System, which serves central and northeastern Pennsylvania, that employs about 23,500 people total.

Centre County employees: 545

Previous rank: 14

Contact: 800-275-6401

10. HRI Inc.

750 W. College Ave., State College

President/CEO: Jeffrey Lamb.

What: A family-owned paving company in State College that runs several hot-mix asphalt plants and one emulsion plant.

Centre County employees: 490

Previous rank: 10

Contact: 238-5071

11. Federal government

Washington, D.C.

President: Barack Obama.

What: The federal government has 17 agencies in Centre County. The latest statistics come from November, and show a decrease from last year’s employment level of 567 local federal employees due to budget cuts.

Centre County employees: 448

Previous rank: 15

12. YMCA of Centre County

125 W. High St. Bellefonte

Executive Director: Howard Long

What: As a not-for profit community-centered organization, the YMCA of Centre County oversees branches in State College, Bellefonte and Philipsburg.

Centre County employees: 437

Previous rank: 13

Contact: 355-5551

13. Bellefonte Area School District

318 N. Allegheny St., Bellefonte

Superintendent: Cheryl Potteiger

What: The school district educates about 2,665 students in the Bellefonte area from kindergarten to 12th grade in six schools, with a budget of $46.19 million in the 2014-15 school year.

Centre County employees: 432

Previous rank: 12

Contact: 355-3814

14. Wegmans Food Markets Inc.

345 Colonnade Blvd., State College

Manager: Jimmy Bellis

What: A family-owned grocery store chain based in Rochester, N.Y., with 85 locations in six states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts, with one in Centre County. Wegmans has appeared on Fortune’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list since its inception in 1998, and has ranked among the top 10 for the past decade, including the best company to work for in 2005. The Food Network recognized it with its award for Best Grocery Store in 2007 and Consumer Reports ranked it the top U.S. grocery chain in 2012.

Centre County employees: 420, however, Bellis said that number increases in seasons where Wegmans gets more student employees.

Previous rank: 11

Contact: 278-9000

15. The Meadows/Universal Community Behavioral Health

132 The Meadows Drive, Centre Hall

CEO: Jeffrey A. Herman

Centre County regional director of outpatient care: Val Barner

What: Provides inpatient psychiatric care and outpatient therapy for children, adolescents and adults, and family-based mental health services.

Centre County employees: 414

Previous rank: 9

Contact: 364-2161

16. AccuWeather Inc.

385 Science Park Road, State College

Founder/president: Joel N. Myers

CEO: Barry Lee Myers

What: A national weather company that provides weather forecasting services for more than 180,000 clients worldwide.

Centre County employees: 370

Previous rank: 18

Contact: 235-8500

17. Shaner Operating Corp.

1965 Waddle Road, State College

Chairman: Lance Shaner

What: Shaner Corp. comprises hotels, management firms and a financial service branch.

Centre County employees: 350

Previous rank: 16

Contact: 234-4460

18. Restek Corp.

110 Benner Circle, Bellefonte

President: Bryan Wolcott

What: A corporation that manufactures chromatography products used in a wide range of scientific analysis. Restek was founded in 1985 in Centre County.

Centre County employees: 317

Previous rank: 20

Contact: 353-1300

19. Spectrum Control Technology

1900 W. College Ave., State College

President and CEO: Bel Lazar

What: Spectrum Control Technology is a division of API Technologies Corp. It makes electronics and technology products that keep planes flying, soldiers safe, medical systems operating, communication systems running and information secure. The company’s key customers include the defense community, space agencies and Fortune 500 companies around the world.

Centre County employees: 300

Previous rank: N/A

Contact: 272-2700

20. McDonald’s Restaurants of Pennsylvania Inc.

Centre County

Department head: Tara Musto

What: The global fast-food chain, based in Illinois, has four locations in and around State College and one in Milesburg.

Centre County employees: 298 (Remained unchanged from last year).

Previous rank: 22

Contact: 412-859-0500

21. Centre Crest

502 E. Howard St., Bellefonte

Board president: Betsy Boyer

What: Provides medical care and services through a resident-centered care approach for individuals in need of recovery after a hospital stay, sudden illness, injury, effects of surgery or for those in need of care related to chronic disease management.

Centre County employees: 287

Previous Rank: N/A

Contact: 355-6777

22. Bald Eagle Area School District

751 S. Eagle Valley Road, Wingate

Superintendent: Jeff Miles

What: The district educates 1,685 students in four elementary schools, one middle and one senior high school. The annual budget is $29,010,325 for the 2014-2015 school year.

Centre County employees: 285, including 258 full-time employees and 27 part-time employees.

Previous rank: 21

Contact: 355-4860

23. Minitab Inc.

1829 Pine Hall Road, State College

President/CEO: Barbara Ryan

What: Creates data analysis software for businesses and educational statistics software for schools.

Centre County employees: 279

Previous rank: 18

Contact: 238-3280

24. Giant Food Stores LLC

State College

President: Thomas Lenkevich

What: The Carlisle-based grocery store chain operates in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. It is partners with other supermarket chains such as Tops Markets headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y., and Martin’s, which is operated by Giant-Carlisle. Giant has two State College-area locations: 2222 E. College Ave. and 255 Northland Center.

Centre County employees: 251, including 128 employees at the College Avenue location and 123 employees at the Northland Center location.

Previous rank: 23

Contact: 888-814-4268

25 (tie). Hotel State College & Co.

100 W. College Ave., State College

Owners: John Cocolin, Mike Desmond and Joe Schulman.

What: The company runs numerous bars and restaurants in downtown State College including the Allen Street Grill, The Corner Room, Bill Pickle’s Tap Room, Indigo, Chumleys, Zeno’s Pub and Zeno’s Bottle Shop.

Centre County employees: 250

Previous rank: 24 (tied)

Contact: 237-4350

25 (tie). Sound Technology Inc.

401 Science Park Road, State College

Managing director: Gregg Allen

What: The company designs, develops and manufactures diagnostic medical ultrasound transducers, with another location in Colorado. Sound Technology is a global leader in the development and manufacture of specialized medical ultrasound probes for original equipment manufacturers.

Centre County employees: 250

Previous rank: 38

Contact: 234-4377

27. Supelco Inc.

595 N. Harrison Road, Bellefonte.

Site director: Tom Henderson

What: A division of Sigma-Aldrich, Supelco manufactures chromatography columns and other related products for analytical scientists.

Centre County employees: 248

Previous rank: 27

Contact: 359-2147

28. Foxdale Village Corp.

500 E. Marylyn Ave., State College.

Executive director: Rich Lysle

What: Foxdale Village is a Quaker-directed, nonprofit continuing care retirement community

Centre County employees: 240

Previous rank: 24 (tie)

Contact: 238-3322

29. Sheetz Inc.

5700 Sixth Ave., Altoona.

CEO: Joe Sheetz

Chairman: Stan Sheetz

What: The convenience store chain services areas in Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. In Centre County, there are five stores in State College/Centre Region, one in Bellefonte/Benner Township, one in Wingate, one in Centre Hall and one in Philipsburg.

Centre County employees: 237

Previous rank: 28

Contact: 800-487-5444

30. Juniper Village at Brookline

1950 Cliffside Drive, State College

Regional director: Donald Breneman

What: Offers physical, occupational and speech therapies administered by licensed and certified staff at five facilities: Brookline, The Pines, The Willows, The Inn and Wellspring.

Centre County employees: 230

Previous rank: 24 (tied)

Contact: 238-3193

31. Raytheon Co.

300 Science Park Road, State College

Site executive: Nancy Stahl

What: A defense contracting company based in Massachusetts. Its State College facility is part of the Intelligence and Information Systems division.

Centre County employees: 228

Previous rank: 29

Contact: 278-2000

32. Darden Restaurants Inc.

1000 Darden Center Drive, Orlando, Fla.

Director of operations: Danson Mwaura

What: Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., Darden operates a network of national restaurant chains throughout the country, including Olive Garden on Waddle Road.

Centre County employees: 200 (Remained unchanged from last year).

Previous rank: 31

Contact: 407-245-5084

33 (tie). Graymont (Pa.) Inc.

965 E. College Ave., Pleasant Gap, and The Match Factory, Bellefonte

Plant manager: Martin Turecky

What: The Canadian lime and stone manufacturing firm runs a facility in Centre County, in addition to an underground mine, with sales offices in Bellefonte. Graymont is a family-owned company “committed to responsibly meeting society’s needs for mineral products.”

Centre County employees: 197

Previous rank: 32

Contact: 355-4761

33 (tie). Windy Hill Village

100 Dogwood Drive, Philipsburg

Executive director: Chad Evans

What: The senior living community is part of the larger, nonprofit organization Presbyterian Senior Living.

Centre County employees: 197

Previous rank: 34

Contact: 342-8400

35 (tie). HealthSouth Nittany Valley

550 W. College Ave., Pleasant Gap

CEO: Susan Hartman.

What: A rehabilitation hospital that provides comprehensive rehabilitation services for recovery after stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and more.

Centre County employees: 190

Previous rank: 34

Contact: 359-3421

35 (tie). Hershey Medical Center

Vice dean of regional medical center: Kevin Black

What: Penn State Hershey Medical Group operates practices in the State College area as part of the University Park Regional Campus of the Penn State College of Medicine.

Centre County employees: 190

Previous rank: 37

Contact: 800-243-1455

37. State College

243 S. Allen St., State College.

Manager: Tom Fountaine

Mayor: Elizabeth Goreham

What: The borough oversees local government services with a 2015 budget of $44.6 million.

Centre County employees: 189 including 175 full-time employees and 14 part-time employees.

Previous rank: 39

Contact: 234-7100

38. Penns Valley Area School District

4528 Penns Valley Road, Spring Mills

Superintendent: Brian Griffith

What: The school district educates about 1,433 students within five schools and has a $24,812,176 2014-15 budget.

Centre County employees: 187, including 178 full-time and nine part-time employees.

Previous rank: 33

Contact: 422-2000

39. Centre Area Transportation Authority

2081 W. Whitehall Road, State College

What: Provides mass transit in Centre County, including bus service, van pools and ride sharing.

Centre County employees: 178, including 175 full-time employees and 3 part-time employees.

Previous rank: 40

Contact: 238-2282

40. Hilex Poly Co. LLC

606 Old Curtin Road, Milesburg

What: The packing solution company is the industry’s largest plastic bag and film production manufacturer for companies such as Wal-Mart, Weis and Dollar General.

Centre County employees: 160

Previous rank: 29

Contact: 355-7410

This story was originally published February 15, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "The top 40 employers in Centre County."