TIPTON - The old and the new met Thursday at the Gardner Denver plant in the I-99 Enterprise Campus in Antis Township.
The old - retired farmers Bob and Fred Kensinger of Roaring Spring - were among those touring the new facility, which began operations in May.
The tour was part of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce celebration of Farm-City Month, said Stacy Hoover, vice president of events and technology.
"The purpose is to bring the agricultural community in to see what industry does. Most of the time they interact, but most people don't realize that," Hoover said. "It is an educational experience."
Gardner Denver is a global manufacturer of industrial compressors, blowers, pumps, loading arms and fuel systems. The company has 40 manufacturing facilities.
Its Blair County facility is a state-of-the-art, 70,000-square-foot manufacturing and re-manufacturing plant in the Petroleum and Industrial Pumps Division built to service the rapid growth in the natural gas industry surrounding the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays.
The Kensinger brothers enjoyed the tour.
"I am interested in this type of industry. I farmed all of my life and used a lot of equipment. I enjoy seeing new things and how they work," Bob Kensinger said.
"I was interested in the mechanical end of the industry. When you are a farmer, you have to do a little bit of everything," Fred Kensinger said. "It is good to see something like this come into Blair County; we are lucky to have them here."
Gardner Denver is glad to be in Blair County, plant manager Jerry Zeiders said.
"Blair County was a perfect choice for Gardner Denver. We are perfectly situated here in Blair County to support our customers to the east, west, north and south of here," Zeiders said.
The plant is now 95 percent operational and employs 28 today. Zeiders said he expects to increase that number to between 40 and 50 in the first or second quarter of 2013.
The local plant manufactures and repairs pumps.
"When we receive a customer's request, we can build it up to his request. We can custom build it to whatever he wants," employee Roy Skinner said.
