LEWISTOWN - Dave Miller, owner of Penn State Construction, hopes to build a closer relationship with the community by relocating his office to Lewistown and expanding the services offered.
Penn State Construction, previously located in McVeytown, opened at its new location at 404 State St. during the first week of August, Miller said. The company specializes in commercial building, warehousing and storage.
"I always had a goal to own my own business," Miller said.
Article Photos
Sentinel photo by JULIANNE?CAHILL
Bill Lake, right, owner of The Lake Dealerships, and Dave Miller, of Penn State Constrution, peel a piece of protective covering from an aluminum composite panel on the new store front June 26 in Lewistown.
His ambition and innovation have not only built his construction company, but also led him to expand his services through a secondary cooperative business venture with friends Larry Cox and Thomas Metz.
Miller said the business, MCM Products, was founded in Mifflintown shortly after Penn State Construction contracted in October with The Lake Dealerships in Lewistown. The dealership recently underwent a large expansion and reconstruction as part of a facility image program mandated by General Motors.
The redesign called for a modern, standardized store front made of aluminum composite material panels, Miller said. After his subcontractor went bankrupt, Miller, Cox and Metz decided to take on the project themselves.
The trio purchased a specialized panel builder. computer numerical control machine, or CNC. With that machine, they could make ACM panels from the raw material manufactured by Mitsubishi Inc.
"We're the only local ACM manufacturer," Miller said, adding that there is no other similar business within 4 hours of Mifflintown.
To prepare the panels for Lake, MCM Products had to earn certification from Mitsubishi. Miller said the process was long, involving paperwork, field demonstrations and training on the machine. MCM was certified in April, after demonstrating that they could produce a high quality product.
"We have the expertise and knowledge to be very competitive," Miller said.
Penn State Construction and MCM Products finished their cooperative project at Lake during the last week of July.
"I'm very impressed," Bill Lake, owner of The Lake Dealerships, said. "Attention to detail is very good and the workers respect the employees."
Penn State Construction will travel anywhere in Pennsylvania for commercial construction projects, Miller said. For more information, call the office at 953-9200 or fax to 953-9201.
MCM Products can be reached at 436-5155 or fax to 436-5198.
