USM, part of the Fortune 500 company Emcor is opening its new headquarters, keeping some 440 jobs in Norristown.
The outfit specializes in one-stop-shop building maintenance with services including electrical, plumbing and cleaning.
They've created an energy and water efficient environment in a department store building, cutting their own costs 45%.
State officials are thrilled by what Emcor has done.
"Emcor and USM have invested in the talent of the people in Pennsylvania, providing hundreds of families sustaining jobs in the region," said C. Alan Walker of the Department of Economic Development.
"Today we're employing 440 people at USM, 1200 people in Pennsylvania," said Tony Guzzi, the CEO of Emcor. "The best thing we can do is employ 600 to 700 people at USM and 2,000 people in Pennsylvania."
USM actually benefits from the weakened U.S. economy. So much so it plans to add hundreds of new jobs in this converted old Sears building. This, on top of the hundreds that already exist here in Norristown already.
"A lot of our customers are going through tough times and its our job to help them reduce their costs by providing maintenance services so they can focus on what their core competencies are," said Dan Rodstrum, V.P. of Emcor.
But, Emcor wants more than profits and a happy work force. One of their major community service projects in a nationwide missing kids program, posting pictures of missing children on their 6,000 vehicles that roam America during the course of business. The program, now six years old, is expanding.
"Since we've been doing this, children we've featured - 225 of them - have been recovered," said Rodstrum.
Each child's picture will be posted for one month. Norristown's police force has joined this program as well.
