Made in Pennsylvania: Nearly 150 Years of Manufacturing in Franklin, PA
For generations, manufacturing has been part of the fabric of Franklin, Pennsylvania. Today, Franklin Precision Castings, an investment casting manufacturer located in Venango County, continues that tradition – bringing together skilled trades, engineering and advanced manufacturing while creating career opportunities for people throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Franklin Precision Castings traces its manufacturing roots to 1878 and is recognized as the oldest continuously operating foundry in Pennsylvania. Nearly 150 years later, the company continues to manufacture precision castings in the community where its story began.
Today, nearly 90 employees work at the Franklin manufacturing facility, with plans to grow the workforce by approximately 10% over the coming year. The team supports every stage of the investment casting process, with careers spanning foundry operations, engineering, tooling, CNC machining, quality, maintenance, sales, and other skilled disciplines.
Employees come from communities across Venango County and Northwestern Pennsylvania, including Crawford, Mercer, Butler, Forest, Clarion, and Erie counties – extending Franklin Precision Castings’ employment and economic impact throughout the region.
Generations of Manufacturing Careers in Franklin Pennsylvania
Investment casting brings together traditional manufacturing skills with modern engineering, automation, machining, metallurgy, and quality control.
At Franklin Precision Castings, that creates a wide range of manufacturing career paths – from furnace operators, welders and machine operators to engineers, CNC machinists, quality professionals, maintenance specialists and manufacturing leaders.
Franklin is committed to investing in its people and expanding the expertise needed to manufacture high-quality investment cast components. Employees participate in technical training, certifications, cross-training and leadership development.
Recent examples include project management training through Northwest Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NWIRC), welding training through Venango Technology Center, and industry certification through the Investment Casting Institute (ICI).
Franklin Precision Castings is also engaged with the Non-Ferrous Founders’ Society (NFFS) to help attract and develop the next generation of foundry and engineering talent. Through initiatives such as the NFFS Talent Pipeline Program, the company is exploring new approaches to recruiting and retaining employees and creating stronger pathways into manufacturing careers.
NFFS also provides leadership development opportunities that support an important part of Franklin’s workforce strategy: promoting from within. Leadership training helps employees with deep technical shop-floor experience develop the additional skills needed to move into supervisory and leadership roles.
“Many individuals have worked their way up at Franklin Precision Castings. We value the knowledge our shop employees have developed and the opportunity to put that experience to work for both their own growth and the success of FPC,” said Carol Donahey, HR Manager at Franklin Precision Castings.
Building Pennsylvania’s Next Generation of Manufacturing Talent
Sustaining manufacturing in Pennsylvania means introducing the next generation to the careers available in advanced manufacturing, engineering, and skilled trades.
Franklin Precision Castings launched its summer engineering internship program in 2021, working with students from colleges and universities across the region, including Penn State Behrend, Slippery Rock University, and Grove City College. The objective is to introduce students to investment casting, develop engineering and foundry talent, and build a pipeline of skilled manufacturing professionals for the future.
Interns gain hands-on exposure to the investment casting manufacturing process and work on real engineering and production challenges. Past interns have contributed to projects involving investment gate design, 3D modeling, new product development, scrap reduction and mold throughput.
In Summer 2026, Calvinn Jensen, a mechanical engineering student at Grove City College, joined Franklin Precision Castings to gain hands-on manufacturing experience while pursuing his interest in the aerospace industry.
Connecting Pennsylvania Students With Manufacturing Careers
Franklin Precision Castings also works beyond its own walls to strengthen the manufacturing workforce pipeline across Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Franklin has hosted students and educators from Venango Technology Center, Slippery Rock University, and Grove City College, participated in career and internship events at Pitt-Titusville andPenn State Behrend, and welcomed members of the American Welding Society’s Drake Well Section to its Franklin facility.
These activities allow students to see investment casting and advanced manufacturing firsthand while learning about careers in welding, metallurgy, engineering, quality, and other technical disciplines.
Franklin Precision Castings is also exploring opportunities through METAL (Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeships & Learning), an initiative focused on developing the next generation of talent for the casting and forging industries.
Led by IACMI – The Composites Institute and supported by Department of Defense’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program, METAL brings together the Department of Defense, manufacturers and universities to develop hands-on training for casting trades. Programs combine classroom education, intensive training and on-the-job experience, with input from manufacturers helping ensure training reflects the skills needed in today’s foundries.
Through apprenticeship resources, customizable training programs, industry expertise and connections to funding, initiatives such as METAL provide another pathway for Franklin Precision Castings to strengthen its talent pipeline and help develop Pennsylvania’s future skilled manufacturing workforce.
Franklin Precision Castings also works with the Northwest Pennsylvania Workforce Development Board to help strengthen the region’s manufacturing talent pipeline and is exploring additional apprenticeship opportunities through the German American Chamber of Commerce and Pitt-Titusville.
One area of focus is mechatronics, which combines mechanical, electrical and automation skills used to install, maintain and troubleshoot equipment such as robotics and automated manufacturing systems. Franklin also plans to explore apprenticeship pathways in areas such as CAD/CAM technical design and sales engineering, combining hands-on workplace experience with classroom training.
These partnerships support a larger goal: creating opportunities for local talent to build rewarding technical and manufacturing careers right here in Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Investing in Advanced Manufacturing in Franklin, Pennsylvania
Franklin Precision Castings’ commitment to Pennsylvania has also been demonstrated through decades of investment in its Franklin manufacturing operation.
After a fire destroyed the original facility in 1981, the foundry was rebuilt with support from state and local redevelopment agencies, allowing the company to re-equip its operations and rehire its workforce.
In 2005, Pennsylvania state and local grants helped support a $7 million expansion, including construction of a new building and installation of the first Shell-O-Matic robotic shelling system in the United States.
That investment continues today.
Over the past two years, Franklin Precision Castings, has added three significant pieces of advanced manufacturing equipment, including new horizontal and vertical CNC Machining Centers, and a 20,000 PSI automatic and manual ceramic shell removal system.
The shell-removal technology has reduced cycle times by 50-75% while improving process consistency, workplace safety and water efficiency.
Investments like these help keep advanced manufacturing capabilities and skilled manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania while improving the technology, productivity and capabilities of the Franklin operation.
Manufacturing’s Impact Beyond the Foundry
Franklin Precision Castings’ connection to Northwestern Pennsylvania extends beyond its manufacturing operations.
Employees live throughout the region, raise their families here and participate in the communities surrounding the Franklin facility. Franklin also supports local traditions such as Franklin’s Applefest, an annual fall festival held since 1983 that attracts more than 100,000 visitors to Franklin.
The connection between manufacturing, people, and place has defined Franklin Precision Castings for generations.
From employees who have spent decades building careers in Pennsylvania manufacturing to engineering experiencing investment casting for the first time, the story continues to evolve. New manufacturing technology is being installed. New skills are being developed. New partnerships with schools, universities, and workforce development organizations are taking shape.
But the foundation remains the same: manufacturing in Pennsylvania, investing in Pennsylvania’s workforce and creating opportunities for the next generation to build skilled careers here.
Nearly 150 years after manufacturing began at the Franklin site, Franklin Precision Castings remains proud to be Made in Pennsylvania – and committed to the future of investment casting and advanced manufacturing in Northwestern Pennsylvania.
About Franklin Precision Castings
For four decades, Franklin Precision Castings has been a trusted partner providing high-quality precision investment castings to customers in a variety of industries, including glass container, pumps & valves, oil & gas, mining, steel, food and metal processing, transportation, defense and more.
Franklin Precision Castings pours an extensive range of standard and custom stainless steel, nickel, cobalt, brass, bronze, Ni-Hard alloys to meet the needs of many complex cast subassemblies or assemblies. From in-house engineering, tool-building and machining at their state-of-the-art facility located in the United States, Franklin offers a comprehensive end-to-end investment casting solution that sets them apart as industry leaders.
Your Parts. Our Priority.