Moran Industries

Moran On the Move Again with 281,000 square feet in New Columbia

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:59:45 +0000

Moran Industries just completed the purchase of a 281,000 square feet industrial building.

There is heavy electrical, indoor wash bay, and 18 overhead cranes with multiple capacities to suit almost every industrial need.

This building is rail served with indoor rail running through the facility and outside for maximum loading/unloading and under the crane capacity.

The facility is located on 34 fenced acres with lighting poles located around the property.

Located at the crossroads of I-80, Rt. 15, and I-180 this building is being marketed as a Marcellus Shale Support Center.

Moran Embarks on Electricity Savings Project in All Locations

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:01:57 +0000

Moran has embarked on an electricity savings project by relighting all of its warehouse facilities with T-5 fluorescent fixtures.

Beginning with our 504,321 sq/ft Mechanicsburg DC and working down to our smallest 58,000 sq/ft facility in Watsontown we expect to be completed by December 2011.

The benefits of switching to this type of lighting are multi-fold: lower electricity costs by up to 40% annually, brighter lumens, instant light, consistent color over life of bulb, better color compared to metal halide, and more usable light per fixture.

Moran is performing this project in conjunction with Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) through their e-power program which assists with reimbursement costs for the price of the lights.

Moran Industries Leads Central Pennsylvania in Brown Field Redevelopment

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:40:02 +0000

Moran Industries is leading Central Pennsylvania in brown field redevelopment. Moran Industries is luring Marcellus Shale support companies to the area with turnkey operations.

We provide engineering, site plan development, construction, and logistics support to get your operation up and running smoothly and quickly.

Read Williamsport Sun Gazette Article

Moran Industries to Open New 504,000 sq. foot Rail Served Harrisburg Area Distribution Center in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

admin — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:54:46 +0000

This Harrisburg area facility will begin receiving freight in December 2010. For business inquiries, please contact Moran Industries.

Moran Industries and Montgomery, Pa. Welcome Canadian Gas Companies Peak and New Alta

admin — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:50:30 +0000

MONTGOMERY – The Old Mill manufacturing corridor in the Borough of Montgomery once was a bustling textile manufacturing center that employed thousands of people.

For nearly 30 years the complex has stood nearly empty and has been an eyesore and embarrassment to the community.

Thanks to Watsontown-based Moran Industries, that property is being returned to its former glory, with the Marcellus Shale at the center of its rebirth.

The company recently bought 10 acres of mill property, which runs just south of Route 405 in the borough. Two Canadian gas industry support companies plan to locate operations there by early next spring.

On Friday, with crews already hard at work demolishing old buildings on the property, borough, county and state officials assembled for a groundbreaking ceremony.

For John D. Moran Jr., buying the Old Mill property was something of a homecoming for him. In early 1980, his father John D. “Jack” Moran Sr. was looking to expand his small, family-owned warehousing company and bought the facility, which had shut down due to foreign competition that crippled American manufacturing.

Jack Moran breathed new life into the property and in 1982 sold it to an artificial Christmas tree company. Before long, the unfavorable manufacturing climate forced that company out of business, too, Moran said.

“Thus began a 25-year story of decay and decline, not only for the plant, but the surrounding area,” Moran said. “Today is a new day and a new beginning for the site and the town of Montgomery.”

Moran thanked his wife and children for their support and also John Brindger of ReMax Commercial, calling him “the glue” that helped seal the deal with the individual from whom he bought the property.

Moran said the region is seeing an economic “revolution” fueled by natural gas. He called the Marcellus Shale industry “a new path to prosperity.”

The area already has taken a step down that path, said State Sen. Eugene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township.

Unemployment in Lycoming County is significantly lower than state and national levels and gas industry companies have pledged to hire more local workers, Yaw said.

Yaw said the development “shows what government and private industry can do if they get on the right page.”

“This is just the beginning,” Yaw said. “We just have to be cooperative and willing to handle small changes in our communities.”

Moran Vice President of Operations Jeffery J. Stroehmann the revitalization of the property is result of a “recipe for success” that included the Moran family’s dedication to revitalizing their community, the willingness of industry companies to locate to the area, cooperation by state, county and municipal officials, the availability of rail services, a proactive Chamber of Commerce and community willing to embrace change.

A key to the development of the property was the county’s Brownfield Assessment program, which identified underused or abandoned industrial sites and evaluated their redevelopment potential. The program identified the Old Mill corridor as a property ripe for development.

State Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary Denise Brinley said because of the program, Lycoming County is “so far ahead of the curve” in its redevelopment efforts.

Representatives of the tenant companies – Peak Energy and Newalta – were on hand for the event.

Trevor Hushagen of Peak Energy said his company will be located on the south end of the complex and will be home to administrative offices and maintenance bays for gas drilling equipment it leases to gas exploration companies.

The company has offices in Williamsport and has hired 65 people, most of them from the area, Hushagen said.

John Marty III of Newalta said his company provides on-site waste management services and has about 150 workers throughout the state’s Marcellus Shale region.

Montgomery Borough Council President Lynn Crist said the revitalization of the property “is the fullfilling of Montgomery’s hopes and prayers.”

For decades people have driven by the mill site and seen it as a sad symbol of lost prosperity, Crist said.

“They can now look down and say, ‘Look what’s happening, now,’” Crist said proudly. “Today, we can say it’s really happening,” he said. “Let’s get ‘er done.”

Borough Mayor Andrew Onufrak jokingly asked if the sound of the heavy equipment operating in the background could be turned down during the ceremony, but added, “I love it.”

Moran surprised those in attendance by presenting Onufrak with the key to a historic office building on the property. He donated the structure and surrounding property to the borough to be used as a library and conference center in honor of his mother and father.

“Mom and dad spent a lot of time here,” Moran said.

Such a facility was suggested by local students involved in the Youth Ambassador Program. The program encouraged the students to provide input for a corridor plan administered by the county Department of Planning and Community Development.

County Commissioner Rebecca A. Burke said the students have a lot of reasons to be proud.

“I would like to thank them for their innovative ideas and tell them to keep involved in this project, as there is a lot more to come in Montgomery,” Burke said.

Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce President Vincent Matteo said no matter what government does to fuel economic development, nothing compares to the entrepreneurial spirit of people like John Moran “who are willing to invest in their business and community.

“John is following in his parent’s footsteps and investing in this community,” Matteo said.

Source: http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/556694/Officials-hope-Old-Mill-renovations-signify-borough-s-rebirth.html

Century-old Structures Topple in 5 Seconds

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:31:39 +0000

SUNBURY — At 4:25 p.m. Thursday, 160 pounds of dynamite brought a bit of the old industrial era to a close.

The former Knight-Celotex brick boiler house collapsed and disappeared in about two seconds, while the site’s two iconic smokestacks tipped northeastward, and fell.

An additional 42 pounds of shape charges, cylinders that fire steel fragments like shrapnel, were used to slice interior supports and make the operation quick and elegant.

Once the dynamite and charges were set off, it was all over in about five seconds.

Observers, however, waited in 80-degree heat, with little respite from the sun, for 85 minutes past the announced blast time of 3 p.m.

The blast crew was checking and re-checking the charges, said Jeff Stroehmann, vice president of operations for Moran Industries, the Watsontown company that will own the site. Then a Sunbury fire crew, which had been kept away, needed about 10 minutes to set water hoses, he said.

After the blast, they provided a water curtain to keep the dust down.

Nevertheless, the area was enveloped in a milk-chocolate-brown cloud of smoke that drifted the way of the smokestacks as observers turned to leave.

About 50 people were on hand to watch the implosions, but they were mostly local officials, the site’s owners, demolition workers, police, media, fire police and paramedics. A few families of the work crews were on hand, with a half-dozen or so small children, but, for the most part, the event was unobserved by Sunbury residents.

It is unknown how far the blast was heard. The work was performed by Winchester Blasting Services of Knoxville, Tenn.

“It went perfectly,” Stroehmann said. “It was symbolic for clearing the way for the Renaissance that is going to go on.”

“Down with the old,” he said. “And we’re going to come crashing in with the new.”

Moran Industries redevelops former industrial sites. Clearing out the Celotex property is a joint venture between Moran and Scrap Trade of Ohio.

When it’s fully cleared, which will take until spring or summer 2011, Moran will buy it from Scrap Trade. It envisions developing it into a warehousing and distribution center, Stroehmann said.

“Serving the natural gas industry is one of the possibilities,” he said.

What makes the site a gem is the adjacent railroad spur, he said. This is the fourth such project for Moran.

“When choosing site for redevelopment, we always look for a railroad component because it’s efficient,” he said.

“One ton of rail freight goes 426 miles on one gallon of (diesel) fuel,” he said. “Every rail car that comes in and out of this site will take three tractor-trailer trucks off the highway.”

Stroehmann said at one time Pennsylvania had the heaviest and best rail infrastructure in the nation.

“Remnants of it are still here,” Stroehmann said. “And from Pennsylvania, you can reach 40 percent of the nation’s population in eight hours. It’s a strategic location.”

Another plus to rail, he said, is that 10 miles of rail can be built for every mile of highway.

Transportation costs are the third-largest operating expense for manufacturing, Stroehmann said, after labor and energy, and the next generation of manufacturers will benefit from sites like this.

“If we embed a concept of long haul rail with short haul trucking, we eliminate all truck traffic that runs through our state and gives us little to no benefit,” he said. “And, we create a sector of good family-sustaining trucking jobs where the driver goes out and comes homes the same night, as opposed to long-haul trucking, which is the pits of the industry.”

Future of site “bright”

Sunbury City Councilman Jim Eister, who was on hand for the demolition, suggested it was a bittersweet event.

“It’s a shame we lost Celotex, because it did employ a lot of people — over 100 — but the future of the site is bright,” he said.

Longtime Celotex employee Kevin Troup, also a city councilman, watched his former workplace go down.

Bruce Rea, of Milton, site supervisor for Scrap Trade, said the first industry on the site was built in 1898. The boiler house that was demolished was built in 1900. At that time it was a textile factory.

“By World War II it was owned by Westinghouse, and they made electrical components for the military,” Rea said.

“There are three bomb shelters in there,” he said, “complete with fresh air systems and water supply — the whole works.”

In 1955, he said, it became a fiberboard mill for Allied Chemical.

Rea said he worked for Celotex as plant engineer from 2003 to 2007.

“At one point we produced 650 tons of oak chips per day,” he said. “We dried them after we formed the board.”

That’s what accounted for the area’s characteristic sawdust smell.

“Oak chips cooking,” Rea said.

Source: http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x1950829932/5-seconds-erase-110-years

Geisinger Health System Names John Moran to Its Foundation Board

admin — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 14:28:49 +0000

The Geisinger Health System Foundation has named three new members to its 18-member board of directors, a press release says.

Newly appointed directors are John D. Moran Jr., president and chief executive officer of Moran Industries Inc. and other businesses in Central Pennsylvania; Richard A. Rose Jr., president of Petroleum Service Co. Inc. in Wilkes-Barre; and Gail R. Wilensky, Ph.D., senior fellow at the Project HOPE international health foundation.

An economic adviser to several communities, Moran is a member of the American Chemistry Council and was recently appointed to the bi-partisan Federal Judicial Nominating Committee responsible for making recommendations regarding vacancies in the federal judiciary. Moran is a graduate of King’s College in Wilkes-Barre and resides in Lewisburg.

A graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Rose began his career with US Healthcare in Chicago. He was recruited to Philadelphia to join Digital Equipment Corp., where he was responsible for new business development. Rose resides in Shavertown.

Wilensky serves as a trustee of the Combined Benefits Fund of the United Mine Workers of America and the National Opinion Research Center. She was a commissioner on the World Health Organization’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, and co-chaired the Department of Defense Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care. Wilensky is a resident of Washington, D.C.

Other GHS Foundation Board directors: William H. Alexander; Dorrance R. Belin, Esq.; Karen Davis, Ph.D.; E. Allen Deaver; William J. Flood; Richard A. Grafmyre; William R. Gruver; Thomas H. Lee Jr., M.D.; Robert E. Poole; Don A. Rosini; Glenn D. Steele Jr., M.D.; Robert L. Tambur; and Emeritus directors Arthur M. Peters Jr., Esq.; and Gary A. Sojka, Ph.D.

Moran Industries to Develop Natural Gas Park to Support Marcellus Shale Drilling in North Central PA

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:20:18 +0000

Ground was broken Tuesday afternoon for a Natural Gas Park that will serve the needs of an energy source for the next century.

In the evening, Williamsport City Council approved a land development plan for a new gas industry tenant at 240 Arch St. with the potential for 200 to 250 jobs.

It’s easy to criticize the burgeoning natural gas drilling industry presence in our region, given the legitimate environmental concerns. And that makes it easy to devalue the economic development that is at hand.

But John Moran, president of Moran Industries, had the correct historical perspective at the ground breaking for his firm’s Natural Gas Park at the former site of the Kennedy-King Manor apartments. Moran correctly described the economic potential of the industry as something unlike anything in the region since the lumber era.

The lay-down yard and two rail-served buildings one a 50,000-square-foot structure and the other 31,000 square feet are meant to facilitate a 100-year supply of natural gas between New York State and West Virginia.

These opportunities for our region, its families and its economic profile come along once in a lifetime.

Moran Expansion Helps Williamsport Create ‘Pro-Business’ Environment

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:25:13 +0000

Mayor Gabriel J. Campana announced his new “economic development stimulus package” as he accepted a $30,000 down payment from Moran Industries, to go toward the purchase of the former Kennedy-King housing development on Wednesday.

The plan includes the improvement of infrastructure in the city’s industrial park, low interest loans for businesses and the stimulation of new construction throughout the city, Campana said.

“It is my objective to fast track this plan because we need new jobs now,” he said.

According to Campana, details on the “pro-active” plan will be given in the near future in front of City Council.

As a start to the stimulus plan, Campana accepted the $30,000 down payment from Moran Industries, which will demolish the former low-income housing project in Newberry and build a “modern warehouse and distribution center,” according to Jason Fitzgerald, general manager of JDM consultants, a division of Moran Industries.

Fitzgerald estimated that 35 “good, family-sustaining jobs” will be available at the new facility. He said even more jobs could come in the future as the site grows.

“We’re very happy about our relationship with the city of Williamsport, and we hope to enjoy the success here that we’ve enjoyed in Watsontown (the company’s headquarters),” Jeff Stroehmann, president of operations at Moran, said.

The 10-acre Kennedy-King property was purchased by Moran Industries for $301,000 from the city of Williamsport. The company hopes to begin demolition at the site in the next several months, according to Stroehmann.

Campana said all funds from the sale will go toward “infrastructure improvements to other areas of the city,” such as further street paving in the Williamsport Industrial Park.

He added that such improvements to the city will create a “pro-business environment.”

“It is imperative to improve the necessary infrastructure to retain these jobs and open up additional land in the vicinity to spur future business,” he said. “We can’t have businesses looking elsewhere to grow.”

Source: Sun Gazette, Ashley Wislock

Jeff Stroehmann Appointed to Transportation Board

admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:12:32 +0000

A former Woodward Township supervisor and one-time congressional candidate has been tapped to serve on the state Transportation Advisory Committee.

Jeff Stroehmann, vice president of operations for Moran Industries in Watsontown, said he was appointed to serve on the 12-member bi-partisan board as a result of his diverse background in transportation issues.

He also referred to some of the accomplishments of Moran, a warehousing, distribution and logistics company, in transportation-related activities.

He was appointed by state Rep. Keith R. McCall, D-Lansford, who serves as Speaker of the House.

“I am honored to have been appointed to this very important committee by Speaker McCall,” he said. “I look forward to working with the other members to enhance Pennsylvania’s infrastructure, which will create jobs and economic opportunity for citizens of Pennsylvania.”

The committee, he noted, studies state transportation issues and their impact on economic development and makes reports to the state Legislature and the governor.

Stroehmann, chairman of the Lycoming County Republican Committee, lost in the party’s primary for a Congressional seat in 2008 to Glenn Thompson.

He said, however, that while campaigning his ideas on transportation, including a plan to enhance the state’s infrastructure through investments in roads, rails line and rural airports, caught the attention of some officials.

Stroehmann is filling out the term of Larry McCrae of Philadelphia, who resigned from the committee.

The term expires next year.

Committee members are appointed by the governor, Speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate.

Other members include state Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler, Public Utility Commission Chairman James H. Crawley, Acting Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection John Hanger, Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff, Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak, and Acting Secretary of Community and Economic Development John Blake.

Source: Sun Gazette, Mike Reuther