Aug. 10—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — JWF Industries CEO and President Bill Polacek's first contract, 35 years ago, was to build a staircase for Bethlehem Steel Corp.
The steel mills used to sustain all sorts of business in the area.
At that time, Polacek ran JWF out of a small garage in Daisytown, just outside the city of Johnstown.
But after the mills closed in 1992, companies including JWF had to become integrated with a world outside of Johnstown.
Today, in a sprawling building that used to be owned by Bethlehem Steel, JWF's employees are building entire armored vehicles for U.S. Special Operations and allied Middle Eastern governments.
The company cut the ribbon last Monday on a new 100,000-square-foot facility in North Carolina.
At his office Tuesday, Polacek reflected on 35 years in business.
In 1987, he was fixing people's car frames at his shop in Daisytown. The company has grown since then to produce various metal-centric parts that are shipped across the country to be integrated into finished products, and now, JWF is building five vehicles a week — specifically, Flyer 72 ground mobility vehicles.
"To go from weld repairing vehicles to making vehicles is pretty monumental," he said.
'Fits over a submarine'
But while the present work is rewarding, he's already positioning the company for the future.
Polacek said he is intentional about how he expands the company. All of JWF's metal-centric products are transported by rail or truck, but for projects he's eyeing in the future, he needs to be close to water.
The company acquired the North Carolina site so that it can complete Navy orders that are so big they can only be shipped by barge.
"Ground mobility monies from the government are going down, not up — and where the money is being put is the Navy side," Polacek said, "so we are right now getting NAVSEA qualifications, because we see that market surging and it's going to be long-term."
JWF has a two-year contract to begin after getting its Navy qualifications.
"We got a contract from the military to build a gigantic building that fits over a submarine," Polacek said.
He plans to build subcomponents in Johnstown, ship them to the new North Carolina facility to complete the work and ship the final product by barge.
The North Carolina site will also serve JWF's plans to pursue contracts for windmills that are erected on platforms in oceans, he said.
"Windmills in the ocean are gigantic, so you have to have the capability to ship by barge to take it out to the platforms," he said.
'Defense business'
JWF builds products for multiple industries: oil and gas, renewable energy, airlines, construction equipment, the chemical industry and national defense.
Polacek cautiously got into the defense industry in 2001, with urging and guidance from U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, who died in 2010 after 36 years in Congress.
"Murtha encouraged me to do it," Polacek said.
The defense industry grew in Johnstown through Murtha's influence. As the House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee chairman, he drew defense contracts to the town in the wake of the steel mills' collapse.
Murtha also drew criticism and accusations of earmarking defense business for Johnstown. That made Polacek hesitant.
He described Murtha as "one of the most inspirational leaders I've ever met."
But he didn't want to depend on the congressman.
"I didn't want earmarks," Polacek said. "I had met with Jack and we talked about the defense business. I said 'Mr. Murtha, all I want is an introduction. I want to earn the business, because when you are not here, how am I going to get business?' and that's what really started a long and respectful relationship with him, because he really appreciated that I wanted to earn the business."
He recalled what Murtha said to him: "We have companies that want to come to Johnstown and they'll move away if I leave.
"I know that. What you are doing is earning the business so there's long-term sustainability."
JWF's effect on Johnstown is inspiring to other local businesses. An ad celebrating JWF's anniversary appears on Page A4 in Wednesday's Tribune-Democrat, paid for by "the business community that appreciates you."
'I've wanted it more'
Murtha's death struck Johnstown with worry, but business for JWF was sustained because Polacek set a strategy to earn business and trust from the start, he said.
"I remember asking one customer in particular, 'Now that Murtha's gone, does that affect anything?' and the vice president of that company's supply chain looked at me, almost a little irritated, and said, 'Bill, you earned that business — you earned it because you did a good job. We'll continue to give you business,' " Polacek said.
"That was reassuring, because people didn't know what was going to happen after Murtha died."
JWF had been positioned to weather the storm that would come with Murtha's death, but over the past 35 years, there have been obstacles, he said.
"What people see is the success," he said.
But there's a lot more to the story.
"If you are struggling, know everyone else is, too," he said.
"I've been one decision away from closing the door a couple times."
Polacek said he's felt life at times was like a "Rocky" movie.
"I'm not the best, not the smartest, but I've wanted it more," he said. "And after a while you learn to duck a little bit so you don't get hit."
Some of the toughest times Polacek recalled occurred when the company was young, when he was in the Daisytown garage previously opened by his father, John Polacek Sr. — a business known as Johnny's Welding.
John ran the business while also working for Bethlehem Steel. He needed both jobs to support his wife, Sarah, and their nine children, including Bill.
Polacek's father died of cancer in 1987.
Polacek subsequently purchased Johnny's Welding from his mother with plans to transition it from his father's welding repair shop to a manufacturing business so that he could expand beyond the local Johnstown economy.
Bill was 25 years old. He and his wife, Shari, were newlyweds. Losing his father, best man, best friend and business partner was a wake-up call, he said.
"I heard my father telling me 'sink or swim,'" he said. "When you start a business ... it's emotional. You have to accept failures."
The operation first began to grow in 1994 with a contract to manufacture arial lifts for JLG Industries, and the next wave of growth came from the defense industry in 2001, he said.
Today, JWF employs 465 people in Johnstown and has sites in West Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland, as well as its latest acquisition in North Carolina.
Greg Cordwell, of East Conemaugh Borough, is an inspector of the Flyer 72 vehicles before they go for a test drive on an obstacle course at JWF.
"I've been able to climb up the ladder over the years," he said.
Cordwell started at the company 12 years ago as an assembler, then a forklift operator. With JWF's new contract for the vehicles, he's become an inspector.
Shane Altimus, of Johnstown, has been working on the Flyer 72 vehicle assembly line at JWF for four months.
"This is great for the area, great for Johnstown," Altimus said. "There are good things happening here. Having this company here is good for me — and my kids down the road possibly someday."
