announcements Archives

Kalas Awarded Blue Bird’s Outstanding Supplier in Electrical for 2019

For years, Blue Bird has been a valued customer of Kalas Manufacturing. The Blue Bird Corporation is the leading manufacturer of school busses. Their corporation has an intentional focus to manufacture buses that are wanted and valued once purchased. To ensure they uphold that focus, they have four driving priorities as stated on their website “safety, quality, durability, and serviceability”. That means every part that goes into their busses must provide those priorities and add to the value and desirability of owning a Blue Bird bus.

Considering the level of quality and care Blue Bird puts into their products, it’s no small honor to be recognized as one of their suppliers let alone receive an award from them. In December, Kalas was awarded Blue Bird’s Outstanding Supplier in Electrical for 2019 being recognized for the excellence in delivery, quality and technical support Kalas provided throughout 2019. This was no small feat. It was a group effort from Kalas engineering, account management, process, planning, production and shipping to support Blue Bird in the exceptional ways we have. Therefore, it is with great celebration we receive this award which identifying Kalas as a valued supplier to Blue Bird who went above and beyond to meet their needs.

We want to thank each & every associate who supported our partnership with Blue Bird in 2019 and every year prior. It was due to your meticulous creation of each cable, your energy to work together, be proactive, build quality products that ensure safety and get each order shipped on time that we were recognized. It makes us proud to know we have a Kalas family who delivers excellence… that is something to celebrate!

We are grateful to Blue Bird for honoring us with this award and we are excited to continue delivering exceptional products and customer service for years to come.

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2019 Christmas Card Drawing Winners

This year we reached out to our Kalas associates and invited all dependent children and grandchildren to submit hand drawn cards for our organization to use as our official holiday cards. Today we are excited to announce the contest winners as we prepare our cards to go out.

Thank you to all Kalas associates and their children who together submitted drawings. It was tough year to pick with so many adorable and creative entries. Congratulations to our two winners of the contest:

Hannah Tobias, age 9, granddaughter of Roxanne Welsh, Kalas Lancaster plant. Card shown left.

Perla Pineda, age 14, daughter of Yahayra Valerio, Kalas Lancaster plant. Card shown right.

Happy holidays to each and every member of our Kalas family and customers. We are grateful for your partnership and wish you and season full of joy that lasts all year long. Enjoy your season everyone!

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Kalas Foundation Supports The Fulton Theater

The Fulton Theater located on Prince Street in the heart of downtown Lancaster, PA is a landmark known and respected by memory. A theater with a rich history dating back to the 1700’s known today for it’s broadway quality main stage productions featuring renown shows such as Les Miserable, Beauty & the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame in recent years and the current season stacked with the shows of Treasure Island, 42nd Street, Chicago, Once, the upcoming Mamma Mia! and the present show Sophisticated Ladies which Kalas was able to directly sponsor.

The Kalas Foundation finds it a great privilege to support such landmark non-profits such as the Fulton Theater which so clearly improves the lives it touches. Not only through main stage performances, but through other meaningful outlets. The Fulton Theater has 2 other series simultaneously. One is their Family Series creating magical performances for audiences of all ages and the other their Studio Series, an artistic outlet for shows less well known which often wrestle larger themes, emotions and complexities. Being a non-profit, The Fulton Theater has a heart for impacting the community in large ways. Beyond their performances, they have growing opportunities with their Fulton Academy for children and adults to learn the power of theater teaching life skills of creativity, communication, confidence & self-expression. They have a school & education outreach program enabling the gift of theater to spread far beyond the reach of those who could afford it.

This year, The Kalas Foundation once again had the privilege of supporting the meaningful work of the Fulton Theater. The May 22, 2019 performance of Sophisticated Ladies was designated the show our Foundation helped specifically to make possible. It was a thrilling evening of song, dance & delight as Kalas associates come to support the theater and our involvement with them. Kalas VP of Sales & Marketing, Kym Calabretta welcomed visitors to the theater for the performance and shared the goal of the Kalas Foundation to support organizations such as the Fulton who improve the lives we touch.

We are thankful for the Fulton Theater and invite you to become a subscriber to see the upcoming stellar 2019/2020 season featuring Evita, Peter Pan, Murder on the Orient Express, Kinky Boots, Titanic & Jersey Boys.

Learn about the Fulton Theater and support their life-giving community today!

← Kalas is at Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo 2019 Kalas Associate Antonio Colon Inspiring Us All →

March 2019 Service Anniversary Luncheon

March 13, 2019 we joyfully honored 16 Kalas associates who reached service anniversaries ranging from 5 – 40 years with Kalas. Collectively we celebrated 270 of service! It was a touching luncheon full of stories from years past, laughter and much congratulations. The luncheon reminded everyone present of how unique the heart of Kalas continues to be expressing how each individual felt like family. No matter the length of time each associate honored had worked at Kalas, they each shared a similar sentiment of feeling like they belonged, are valued and a vital part of our community.

With honoring associates who spanned 20, 30 and even 40 years with Kalas, always delightful stories that arose from several family members who have seen Kalas grow over several decades. There were memories of antiquated manufacturing processes jokingly similar cavemen crafts, Kalas plants & buildings being built or shifted, jobs moving locations, and even comical nicknames of associates starting as “kids” only to now be referred to as the “old man”.

Each luncheon honoring a unique group of associates proves to be special and this was no exception. Beyond the joy of years celebrated and memories shared at this luncheon, we honored our entire Human Resources department who’s anniversaries of 5, 20 & 30 years happen to coincide!

Join us in thanking each and every individual for their hard work, their character and their commitment to Kalas for so long. You are celebrated!

Spring Service Anniversary Honorees

JAY H	MILLER	40
BARRY L	STOLTZ	40
DAVID N	SHOWALTER	35
PENNY S	HEMSLEY	30
DANIEL J	STEFFY	30
KELLY A	FASNACHT	20
CHRISTOPHER M	WAGNER	20
MIRCEA	GRIJINCU	15
CHERYL LYNN	WEEPLE	15
LIBIA E	TIBOCHA	15
ELIZABETH	AUSTIN	5
CESAR	SALAZAR	5
JARED	KISCADDEN	5
BARRY	WANNER SR	5
BARRY	WANNER JR	5
MARK	ELL	5

Enjoy this collection of photos from our Spring anniversary luncheon.

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Celebrating 60 Years!

In the fall of 1958, Kalas founding partners Paul Witwer, Walter Cubberley and Floyd Witwer came together in the back room of the Denver Hardware Supply to create a wire and cable manufacturing company on Main Street in Denver, PA. Now, six decades and three generations later, Kalas is proud to have grown to become a +$150M organization with more than five hundred associates and five buildings.

In honor of this special milestone, Kalas will host Associates and their family members on Saturday, September 29 to celebrate this 60^th anniversary. Kalas will also bequest a commemorative contribution to the local community to support the Denver Memorial Park Access for All Project. The Denver Park is a 12 acre space which hosts local events such as the annual Denver Fair and a wide variety of youth programs. It is available to the community free of charge. Kalas is grateful for the support and resources of the communities in which their associates live & work and to have been able to provide gainful employment to the Denver and Lancaster communities for six decades and counting!

We will share photos and memories after the big day. Check back for more in October!

Summer 2018 Kalas Service Anniversary Honorees

This Summer’s service anniversary luncheon honorees marked a very special culmination of associates in attendance. With over 255+ years of service from the group in attendance, there may never be another quite like it! There were faces like Kim Brugger(30), John Wiegand(35), Lee Showalter(35) and Glenn Moyer(40) who have been with Kalas for over 30 years, making their history so intertwined with Kalas’ the company wouldn’t have been the same without them. Alongside our long-tenured honorees were treasured associates like Dan Hall and David Johns and Bradley Longer who have reached their 15-year and 25-year marks making them equally as well recognized and valued faces in our family to all of Kalas’ vast group of associates with fewer years than they. Add to that many 5 and 10 year honorees and you can see how special an occurrence this Summer’s group of recognized associates would be.

At Kalas, we are incredibly grateful for being a workplace where employees want to come to work, desire to grow and stay long enough to feel like family. From day one at Kalas, you become a part of the family. Stay long enough and you’ll start to feel the familiar support, connection, and collaboration.

Thank you to all honored associates for everything you bring to Kalas each day you arrive, today and in all of your years past. Here’s to many more ahead!