News
General Carbide President Mona Pappafava-Ray Named 2011 Pacesetter Award Finalist
Greensburg, PA, October 3, 2011
Mona Pappafava-Ray, president of General Carbide Corporation, was recently named a 2011 Pacesetter by SmartBusiness Pittsburgh. The award ceremony took place at the 25th Annual St. Barnabas CEO Leadership Conference near Pittsburgh. Jim Cawley, Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania, was the keynote speaker. SmartBusiness Pittsburgh is a management journal providing insight, advice and strategy for C-level executives and fast-growth, middle-market and large companies.
“Being named a Pacesetter Award finalist is a result of our management team having a strong commitment to making sure the company is always prepared for new business opportunities ,” says Ms. Pappavava-Ray. “Because of their dedication, I feel good about continuing to invest in the business despite the conventional wisdom that economic conditions are soft, and are likely to remain so into the foreseeable future.” Over the past year, General Carbide has invested $2 million in new production equipment, including CNC vertical machining centers and lathes, as well as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and new hardware to support its information technology (IT) and engineering activities. The company also purchased equipment to complete a new manufacturing cell that will produce rooftile tooling for customers worldwide.
“The result of our ongoing commitment to capital expansion has positioned us for growth opportunities that have already started to materialize,” says Ms. Pappafava-Ray. “As many competitors have cut positions and minimized their investments in new technologies to improve their short-term finances, we've gone the opposite direction, and it's started to pay off.” Over the past year, the company has increased its payroll from 140 employees to more than 200 while sales have increased from $22.5 million to nearly $30 million.
About General Carbide
General Carbide Corporation manufactures more than 50 grades of tungsten carbide tooling for a variety of cutting and metal forming applications. The company was established more than 40 years ago and is headquartered in Greensburg, PA, near Pittsburgh.
For more information, contact Tom Shearer at 724.836.300, e-mail trshearer@generalcarbide.com.