Manufacturer & Business Association Announces Board for 2020-2021

The Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA) recently announced its 2020-2021 Board of Governors.

Chairman Mark Raimy is president and chief executive officer of Welders Supply Company – Raimy Corporation in Erie, the region’s largest supplier of industrial gas, medical gas and hard goods to the manufacturing, health care, laboratory and restaurant industries.

Raimy also serves as chair of the UPMC Hamot Board of Directors, a member of the UPMC Board and is chairman of the UPMC Investment Committee.

Raimy served for nine years as vice president of institutional equity trading for Prudential Equity Group in New York City. He also spent six years as regional vice president at MFS Investment Management in Boston. Raimy earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Denison University in Ohio.

Raimy is joined on the MBA’s Executive Committee by Vice Chairman Steve Jones, president, Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc.; Treasurer Kathy Jones, executive and business planning manager, Wabtec Corporation;Immediate Past Chairman Mike Mankosa, executive vice president of Global Technology, Eriez Magnetics; and, Non-Manufacturing Representative Colleen Moore-Mezler, president and chief executive officer of Moore Research Services. Secretary is Tammy Lamary-Toman, JD, PHR,vice president and employment counsel of the MBA.
 
New Board members appointed to three-year terms include:
 
Kyle Blakeslee, general manager of Urick Ductile Solutions, a ductile iron foundry located in Erie. Urick has about 110 employees and is part of the Emerson Electric Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.
 
Blakeslee has been with Urick for four years and oversees all aspects of the business including manufacturing, sales, finance, engineering and human resources. He started his career as a manufacturing engineer and has served in various management roles including engineering, operations and sales. He previously held positions at Snap-tite, Bush Industries and Composiflex. 
 
Blakeslee is a graduate of Penn State University where he earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

Jon DeArment is president and chief operating officer of Meadville-based CHANNELLOCK^®, where he has worked for more than 20 years. As president and COO, he is proud to be part of the fifth generation that’s helping to lead the family owned company.

DeArment began his career at CHANNELLOCK^® working in the plant during summers while on break from college. Over the years, he worked his way through different areas including maintenance, the machine shop, human resources, sales and marketing, and the manufacturing section of the business. He served as vice president of Manufacturing and Engineering before becoming president and COO in 2014.

DeArment earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Gannon University. He also graduated from the Bell Leadership Institute’s Master’s in Leadership Program. He was awarded the 2016 Gannon University SBDC Presidents Award and was a 2017 Pittsburgh Smart 50 Award honoree. He serves as the vice president for the Hand Tools Institute Board of Directors.

Jana Goodrich is president and chief executive officer of Seaway Manufacturing in Erie, which manufactures and sells premium replacement windows, patio doors and sunrooms through specialty home improvement dealers in 18 states.

Goodrich’s career includes sales for Xerox, as a systems engineer with IBM, owner of Executive Education Services consulting in management, marketing and professional development, and as a consultant and instructor at Penn State Erie. At Behrend, she taught courses in management, marketing, helped develop the Interdisciplinary Business and Engineering program, and directed Behrend’s annual “Business Bridge.”

Goodrich was honored with the Penn State University Alumni Fellow award in 2018. She serves on the Black School of Business Executive Council and Council of Fellows, and advises many projects.

Goodrich has served on the board of numerous Erie nonprofit organizations and is a board member of two national organizations, the National Glass Association and the National Sunroom Association. Goodrich received her B.S. in Economics from Allegheny College and an MBA from Penn State.

Jeff Plyler, who previously served on the MBA Board from 2014 to 2017, is the president and chief executive officer of Plyler Enterprises, Inc. (Plyler Entry Systems locations in McKean and Hadley, Pennsylvania, Overhead Door Company of Jamestown, New York, and Tri State Door, its wholesale operation in McKean).
 
Plyler Overhead Door Company was founded in 1967 by Jeff’s father, Ernest Plyler. Jeff worked evenings, weekends and summers while in school and, upon graduation in 1978, joined the company full time. In 1979, they hired their first full-time employee, and the company started to grow from there. In 1994, Jeff purchased the company from his father, and Ernest retired.
 
Currently, Plyler Enterprises employs 55 people throughout the operation. The company services both residential and commercial customers, offering garage doors, openers and accessories, entry doors, garage door screens, retractable awnings, patio doors, windows, loading dock levelers, restraints and equipment, as well as hollow metal doors, frames and hardware. In addition to the MBA, the company is a member of the Builders Association of Northwestern Pennsylvania and the International Door Association.

Additional members of the MBA Board of Governors include: Debbie Uht, president of Professional Communications Messaging Service, Inc. (PCMSI); Jim Greenleaf, chief executive officer of Greenleaf Corporation; and, Mark Rose, director of Erie Operations at Parker LORD Corporation.