ERIE – The Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA) recently announced its 2021-2022 Board of Governors.
Chairman Steve Jones is president of Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc., a family owned and operated hardwood lumber business established in 1983 with sales office headquartered in Union City and lumber dry kiln manufacturing facility in Franklin, Pennsylvania. The company specializes in the sales of premium grade Northern Appalachian kiln-dried hardwood grade lumber to customers in North America, Europe and Asia.
Jones is also director of Export Sales and has more than 32 years of experience in the hardwood lumber industry. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business marketing from The Pennsylvania State University and is a graduate of the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) Inspection School. Jones serves as a chairman of the Union City Community Foundation and AHN Saint Vincent – board leadership.
Jones is joined on the MBA’s Executive Committee by Vice Chairman Jana Goodrich, president and chief executive officer of Seaway Manufacturing; Treasurer Kyle Blakeslee, general manager and foundry director of Urick Ductile Solutions; Immediate Past Chairman Mark Raimy, president and chief executive officer of Welders Supply Company – Raimy Corporation; and, Ex-Officio (Non-Manufacturing Representative) Debra Uht, president of Professional Communications Messaging Service, Inc. (PCMSI). Secretary is Tammy Lamary-Toman, JD, PHR, vice president and employment counsel for the MBA.
New Board members appointed to three-year terms include:
Guy Berkebile, president of Guy Chemical, Inc. in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Berkebile founded the company in Somerset County’s P.R.I.D.E. Manufacturer’s Incubator in 1995 as a producer and packager of silicone sealants, silicone grease and two-part epoxy adhesives. The company was honored as the 2013 Small Business Administration Exporter of the Year and 2015 PA Governor’s ImPAct award winner for exporting.
Berkebile is a graduate of Penn State University where he majored in business management. He is also chairman of the Somerset County Republican Party.
Charles (Chad) Betts, president and chief executive officer of Warren-based Betts Industries, Inc., which designs and manufactures valves, manlids and pressure/ vacuum relief vents for highway cargo tanks and various other industrial applications, as well as safety lamps, lighting systems and other accessories for the trucking industry. He is the fifth generation of Betts family leadership at the company.
Betts began his career in the family business in 1988 after graduating summa cum laude from Grove City College with a B.S. in mechanical engineering.
Scott Bonnell, owner of Bonnell’s Auto Group, who previously served on the MBA’s Board from 2016-2019. Bonnell, born and raised in Erie, Pa., is a longtime auto enthusiast, and has spent the past 30 years building his shop’s reputation, and investing and fine-tuning his operation into one of northwest Pennsylvania’s largest and fastest-growing auto business empires.
Today, Bonnell’s family owned and operated Auto Group includes four major divisions — Truck & RV Collision, Auto Sales, Auto Glass, and Rod Shop — with locations based in both Erie and Fairview Township.
Additional members of the MBA Board of Governors include: Jon DeArment, president and chief operating officer of Channellock, Inc; Bob Frost, vice president, engineered systems procurement for Wabtec Corporation; Jim Greenleaf, chief executive officer of Greenleaf Corporation; Mike Mankosa, executive vice president of Global Technology for Eriez Magnetics; and, Jeff Plyler, president and chief executive officer of Plyler Enterprises, Inc.
