Critz vows support for local programs
U.S. Rep. Mark Critz (D-Johnstown) pledged support for projects at several local defense contractors, ranging from an anti-torpedo torpedo system to non-lethal weapons development and training during a “whirlwind tour” Wednesday. Critz, who said he is working hard to fill the “big shoes” of the late John Murtha, long-time U.S. representative who died earlier this year, visited Shumar’s Welding and Machine Service, Argon ST and Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, where he talked with staff and was updated on the progress of several defense projects.
Critz, who was Murtha’s director of economic development, said while he may not have his former boss’s political clout, “We have been working to maintain relationships our office had when Mr. Murtha was here.
“We may be moving into the dark but we are working hard. I have met and talked with many of those people and friends of our office. I know I’m not Jack Murtha, but we are here to strategize and look at what I’m capable of doing,” he said.
He commended Eli Shumar and his staff at the Brier Hill facility for being able to “take something and find a solution. When he gets a project, he runs with it.” Shumar’s has a contract for part of the torpedo system.
Critz added that he was keen to visit Argon ST in the Fayette Business Park near Smithfield to learn more about its recent merger with Boeing Corp. and how that will affect the local operation.
“I was glad to hear there are going to be some new opportunities that Boeing may bring to Fayette County. It’s good to be able to look at local defense contractors where their horizons are opening and I want to work with them,” he said.
Karen Stiles, director of Argon ST’s Pennsylvania operations, told Critz that one of the company’s contracts has resulted in hiring 15 new full time workers. “We hope to have hired 60 full time people when this project is at full speed,” she said.
The company employs 127 people at its three Pennsylvania sites: about 100 at the Fayette Business Park, 20 at the testing facility in Lemont Furnace, and seven at its Windber office.
“We want to expand here and we think we can do well in helping protect our country,” Joe Carlin, Argon ST vice president, said.
The system Argon ST builds, Carlin added, “helps protect the U.S. Navy and its allies from torpedo attack.
Critz said jobs are important and he wants to do “as much as I can for the people here.”
At Penn State Fayette, Critz listened to an 90-minute briefing by personnel from the university’s Applied Research Lab (ARL) and the work it has been doing on the anti-torpedo torpedo system.
He also was briefed on the university’s work in developing and training for non-lethal weapons.
Critz said there has been increased interest in the torpedo program following the sinking of a South Korean naval ship earlier this year.
Penn State, through its ARL and Distributed Engineering Center, develops new technology as well as outreach to local companies and has been working with Argon ST on the torpedo system.
The initiative for non-lethal weapons defense technology, according to Andrew Mazzara, director of the college’s Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies, focuses on developing and training. The work it does supports the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Justice and international law enforcement professionals.
“We do technology assessment, workshops and training,” among other things, Mazzara said.
Ted Mellors, director for the Center for Community and Public Safety at Penn State Fayette, reviewed the work the center has done, including developing a video on school safety that will be available to school districts.
The center also has trained thousands through online and location courses of law enforcement, emergency services and military personnel.