Fifty years ago, Chautauqua County was facing a big problem. Art Metal Corporation, the largest metal furniture manufacturer in Jamestown, had built a new 1 million sq. ft. factory in Busti–but then Art Metal slid into bankruptcy. The new factory building was empty. What was to be done with it?

I was just getting into politics in those days and remember clearly how this became the No. 1 issue in Mayville and in the county. This was also during the early days of our Industrial Development Agency, and filling the empty plant became its primary focus.

At about this same time, Cummins Inc. of Columbus, Indiana was looking for a location to build a new engine plant. Like today, New York state was not seen as especially business friendly but, eventually, through a lot of effort at the local and state level–an offer was made which was acceptable to Cummins … and the company came.

What has happened over the past 50 years has been quite remarkable. The Jamestown Engine Plant has become one of the primary facilities for Cummins in producing state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line diesel and natural gas truck engines.

The latest new “wrinkle” in manufacturing was Cummins’ recent announcement that it was going to invest more than $400 million at the plant in order to start building engines here which can run on diesel, natural gas or hydrogen. The company has always been on the cutting edge of reducing exhaust emissions in its engines…and this new generation of engine will be driving the production at the plant going forward.

Of course, a production plant is nothing without the people who work in it–and the biggest story on Cummins’ success here has been with its employees and the team approach that is used in the manufacturing process.

One of our good friends came here from Indiana with the initial start-up crew. He and his wife grew to love the area so much, that he turned down an offer to move up the corporate ladder and, instead, bought a business and settled here. That speaks volumes of how the beauty and vibrancy of our community has benefited from the Cummins connection.

We are fortunate to have this industry anchoring the economy of southern Chautauqua County. With 1500 employees, Cummins is the largest private sector employer in the county. The workers here are building and shipping about 450 large truck engines each day which are sold all over the world. One-third of all heavy trucks in North America are powered by a Cummins engine made in Jamestown.

Like many large institutions in our community–after many years you tend to take them for granted. When I drive down Baker Street past this huge engine plant, it seems like it has always been there.

Yet, it had a beginning and would not still be here without the commitment of the company and of the dedication of the hundreds of people who have worked there over the years.

We are fortunate to have the Cummins Engine plant in our area. Happy Anniversary, Cummins, on the occasion of your 50th year of being a part of our community!

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.