Our FLEX Feature articles have been a mix of nonprofit organizations and businesses, and we’re excited to introduce a local manufacturer this month!

Tell us about Electralloy.
We make specialty steel, nickel, and copper alloys for the aerospace, shipbuilding, energy production, and industrial products industries. The material starts as scrap and is melted in our electric arc furnace. The melt shop works to perfect the chemistry of the alloy by adding and reducing elements of interest. It then can either be remelted in our vacuum arc remelt (VAR) furnaces or electro slag remelt (ESR) furnaces, and forged/rolled to size in Braeburn, PA, or sent to our network of converters and then heat treated, tested, and machined to size at our Rouseville, Siverly, and Cherry Tree locations.

What is your role at Electralloy?
I’m the Chief Chemist and responsible for managing all aspects of the chemistry lab. We work with the melt shop to produce quick and accurate results throughout and after the melt. We use four types of methods—Xray, optical emission, combustion, and fusion. We just acquired a new x-ray machine and we are busy calibrating and running studies on its capabilities. Soon I will be creating and updating procedures on how to run the different grades of steel on the new machine.

What is your favorite part about working for this business?
Electralloy has been a steady source of employment for Venango County residents since the late 1960’s. It has even given me the ability to move home. I studied Food Science in the hope of running a creamery off my family’s farm. We (Mitch-Hill Dairy) just started bottling milk in January 2021, but it still is not enough to pay a salary. Therefore, my day job at Electralloy helps sustain that dream in hopes it can be profitable in the future. I am thankful Electralloy has given me a career. I started as a technician and worked my way to management. They have provided some training and I am learning new things about this industry every day.

What would surprise people about Electralloy?
I think our coolest customer is SpaceX! We make the metal that goes into the rocket engine nozzles for when they blast off and the steering mechanisms for the boosters that are landed on barges when they return to earth. Our favorite saying in the lab is: “Sometimes we make spaceships and sometimes we make spoons.” Spaceship making day is the most exciting.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Fun fact — we used to get and use scrap that came with armed guards, like foreign coins and firearms that were being recycled.

Also, we are environmentally conscious. As mentioned earlier, we use an electric furnace and that is the greenest form of energy to melt steel. Most other mills use natural gas, coal coke to power their furnaces. Our lab also tests the water quality once a week to make sure any runoff to the river is safe for the local wildlife.

Thank you, Quinn, for sharing about Electralloy! You can learn more about the business at electralloy.com.

This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) June 2022 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.