Wyoming, Luzerne County, PA -
A manufacturer with a long history in the area is expanding.
Diamond Manufacturing Company recently expanded with a 30,000-square-foot addition at its headquarters in Wyoming. The company continues to grow and another 15,000-square-foot addition is planned in August, said Brent Montross, executive vice president of Diamond Manufacturing.
John Newton Thomas founded the company in 1915 to create sizing screens for the coal mining industry.
Today, Diamond Manufacturing is a big supplier of perforated metal coils and sheets and a full-service provider of perforated metals including aluminum, stainless steel, carbon steel and plastic. The company serves the agriculture, oil and gas, automotive, aerospace, architecture, industrial and medical industries and ships throughout North America.
At one huge plant in Wyoming, workers perforate parts while they fabricate in another plant. Customers typically would need to go to two different suppliers for perforated and fabricated parts, said Brent Montross, executive vice president of Diamond Manufacturing.
"We can do both of that," he said. "We look at it as a supply chain solution."
Montross said Diamond Manufacturing's ability to perforate and offer fabricating and finishing capabilities are "value-added" services.
"What started as a pure perforating company over 100 years ago has evolved into a perforated and value-added metal processor within the last 15 to 20 years," he said. "In our industry, we do things that nobody else can do from a processing standpoint and a technology standpoint and now you add the value-added part of this, it kind of insulates us with our customers that allows us to ship to a further distance."
The late Charles (Rusty) Flack, a life resident of Dallas who died in 2011, formerly served as the president of the company. In 2010, Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. acquired Diamond Manufacturing from the Flack family.
David Simpson, who has served as president and CEO of Diamond Manufacturing since 2010, credited the company's employees and their strong work ethic for its growth. He called the company's expansion "an exciting time for us."
"We definitely experienced growth and I would say it's because of the people in this location," Simpson said. "I think the work ethic in Northeastern Pennsylvania is very strong. A lot of people have been here a long time. Some people have been here for 25, 30, 35 and 40 years. It's just been a great company to work for."
The company employs 162 people and plans to hire more in the future including press operators, Montross said. He said the pay and benefits packages offered are "extremely competitive."
Over the last few years, Diamond Manufacturing has seen increased demand for its products, Montross said.
One reason for the increased demand is that the company supplies grain bins to the agricultural industry and there has been a food shortage globally, he said. The company also has seen increased demand for its products from the oil and gas industries, he said.
The war in Ukraine also has led to higher demand from the agricultural industry for Diamond Manufacturing's products since Ukraine is no longer providing much of the grain, corn and soybeans, Simpson said.
"The American farmer has been tasked to grow more so corn and soybean prices are high, which allows the farmer to spend more because he's making more money," he said.
