Top employers
Below is a list of the top 25 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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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).
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
Contact: 234-4377
This story was originally published June 14, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Top employers."