It’s rare to see a manufacturing company that’s been in business for 200 years, but it’s even rarer that the family that founded it continues to own and operate it. When the AEM Manufacturing Express rolled into Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and visited McLanahan’s main plant, we got to see firsthand what six generations of hard work looks like.
Sean K. McLanahan, President and sixth generation family owner, opened with remarks to the McLanahan team to kick off the event: “Every day, our equipment is used around the world to improve the lives and standard of living of people. This equipment is designed, cast, fabricated, assembled, painted, and finished right here in this factory. It goes on to provide power, the roads we drive on, critical minerals, medicines, and thousands of other uses every day.”
McLanahan has facilities across four continents and a history of innovation including the Log Washer and the Single Roll Crusher. The 327 employees at McLanahan celebrated a run that goes all the way back to 1835.
The company has been a part of the fabric here in Hollidaysburg for as long as people can remember. That’s why Congressman John Joyce joined us to help celebrate the legacy and important contributions McLanahan has made to the community. “Manufacturing is an integral part of our community,” said Joyce to the crowd, “You all right here at McLanahan build the equipment that supports family sustaining jobs and keeps America competitive. Here in Hollidaysburg, we don’t just talk about it. We think it, design it, and build it.”
Ask the McLanahan’s what they make and you’ll get a wonderfully plain answer: “Equipment that turns big rocks into little rocks and cleans the sand.” That includes solutions for mining, aggregate, C&D recycling, and dairy farms, where the company’s agricultural division handles manure management and bedding. Building equipment that big requires a lot of space. One building at McLanahan climbs four stories tall because they need overhead crane clearance, and some machines roll on tires taller than the people who build them.
The pride in the McLanahan legacy is exactly why people tend to stick around. Many people who work here start in the factory straight out of high school and retire from the same shop decades later. The McLanahan family sets the tone and has built a company culture that inspires hard work and loyalty. Chairman Mike McLanahan, the fifth generation and 87 years old, still comes to the office every day. Mike oversaw the acquisition of Eagle Iron Works, which was at one point one of McLanahan’s strongest competitors.
“Fifty years ago, he was in sales. If he lost a sale, he was losing it to Eagle. So, he’s very proud that when you look at an Eagle Iron Works logo now, his family name is underneath it,” said Claire Hoover, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at McLanahan Corporation.
The pride carries outside the gates, too. McLanahan’s logo turns up on just about every school sports field in town, and the company runs internships and apprenticeships through the local Career and Technology Center, bringing high school students onto the shop floor during the year and over the summer. Many of them return as full-time employees.
We all benefit from the work McLanahan has done for nearly 200 years. The material that builds and powers America passes through machines like these first. In Hollidaysburg, six generations of one family and 327 of their neighbors make sure it does.
