Local manufacturer brings jobs to Blair County

SNYDER TOWNSHIP -- Kunzler & Co. is creating dozens of jobs at its Blair County location, according to the plant's general manager, Dave Grazier.

The expansion comes a few days after county economic leaders expressed concern over hearing that Cenveo and Appvion, both paper-related businesses, would be downsizing or leaving the area, taking jobs with them.

Joe Hurd, president and CEO of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, said last week that he didn't see a trend in manufacturing industries disappearing locally, but the predictability depends on what exactly the companies manufacture.

Grazier said that, in fact, Kunzler's products keep business thriving.

"People like to eat. We make something that people are really anxious to buy and use on a regular basis. I don't think you can go to many households in the area and not find a pack of bacon somewhere," Grazier said.

He said the plant processes 500,000 pounds of bacon every week, including all natural bacon, which Grazier said has become increasingly popular.

"It goes with everything. People eat it for breakfast -- that's typical -- but also sandwiches, or salad garnishes," he said.

The demand for bacon has grown so drastically since the plant opened in the 1980s that it plans to build a 12,000-square-foot addition at the local plant, and Grazier said the company needs more workers to do it.

"Mostly production people right now. We also have a quality assurance department that we'll need to expand on, and we've recently hired some maintenance people to work on the machines. Things like that keep them running and so forth," Grazier said.

Kunzler plans to create about 30-35 jobs total, and about 15 new workers already started on Monday.

Grazier thinks the future of manufacturing jobs is fairly bright, at least in the meat industry.

"Keep eating bacon and we'll keep making it," he said.

For anyone who might be interested in these jobs, Grazier said the company often hires through Pennsylvania Career Link in Altoona.

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