Development promoters from Crawford, Venango and Mercer counties Friday celebrated a home and office furniture maker’s decision to become the first occupant of an industrial park on the border of Crawford and Mercer counties.

"We have chosen 80 acres in the Keystone Regional Industrial Park for the future expansion of our office furniture line," Jeffrey D. Fick, Hon Industries vice president, said at the celebration luncheon in Meadville Country Club. "Within two to three years after startup, it will employ several hundred people." he added.

The industrial park is in a Keystone Opportunity Zone, which exempts new businesses from state and local taxes for up to 12 years.

The selection began on Easter weekend when Jack Kirkik, Hon vice president for manufacturing, was visiting his Greensburg, Pa., home and took a drive through the Greenwood Township site.

He said the Muscatine, Iowa, company was considering about 20 sites between Harrisburg and Chicago.

With the help of consultants, the company ranked the prospective sites according to each location’s work force, educational and training opportunities, housing, day care, recreation, arts and culture and access to highways and airports.

"When we did that process, Meadville came out heads and shoulders above all the others," Fick said.

A nudge from Gov. Tom Ridge helped in the decision-making.

Kirkik said he was touring the site in a helicopter with directors of the Meadville Area Industrial Commission and the Governor’s Action Team. As the helicopter approached Erie, Ridge invited them to his home, said Steven L. Kohler, director of the Governor’s Action Team.

"Make sure that this project happens," Kohler said Ridge told him and Clark Hoffman, the Meadville commission’s board chairman.

Kohler said Kirkik couldn’t say, "We’re looking somewhere else," when he was invited into the governor’s home.

The community’s work ethic and appearance reminded Hon executives of Muscatine and the company and industrial park shared a bit of history, Fick said.

Hon Industries and Keystone Regional Industrial Park both started out of remnants of World War II.

Hon Industries began in 1947 as a way to train returning GIs for the civilian work force, Kirkik said.

The industrial park is on the site of World War II’s Keystone Ordnance Works.

Fick also told those at the luncheon a little about Hon Industries.

Since its beginning, all employees have been considered owners and members of the company, he said. All employees are shareholders.

The company also emphasizes community involvement by donating a percentage of pretax profits to local day cares, libraries, anti-domestic abuse programs and others, he said.

Sue Ferry, Meadville Area Industrial Commission, executive director, and state Sen. Robert D. "Bob" Robbins, Salem Township, R-50th District, praised the cooperation of the three counties backing the regional industrial park.

"We have a long tradition of industrial heritage here in northwest Pennsylvania. This addition marks the continuation of that industrial heritage," said Dick Castonguay, director of the Venango County Economic Development Corp. "People think we’re the rust belt, but they haven’t looked beneath the surface."

The specific type of plant to be built and a timetable for construction were not known Friday and company officials would not give precise employment projections.

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