In 1971, the Art Metal plant in Ashville closed. What was to be done with it? There were not many companies interested in taking over a 1 million square foot manufacturing facility in Upstate New York.

The county had taken over the responsibility for the building through its Industrial Development Agency (IDA,) but for three years this shell of a huge manufacturing facility remained empty.

Then, one day, a faraway company from the State of Indiana called and expressed interest in taking a look at it.

On the day that a person from Cummins Engine came to take a look at the plant, a newly appointed staff representative of the Chautauqua County IDA was given the key to open the plant door.

Inside they found a mess–old equipment still there, junk laying in corners, birds flying, cobwebs and dirt everywhere. Instead of just saying, “No, we are not interested,” the Cummins official said: “If you can clean this place up in 30 days, I will bring our team back to take a look at it.”

The person who made that decision was Dick Allison, a manager with Cummins who had been tasked with finding and building a new engine assembly plant in North America.

True to his word, Allison returned in 30 days…and the rest is history. Dick Allison is no longer a household word here in Chautauqua County. But, in 1974 he was the guy who made all of the difference. Not only did he select the Busti/Ashville building for Cummins, he came, started and for five years ran what we now know today as the Jamestown Engine Plant.

When that plant is running at full bore, it employs more than 1,000 people and can produce 500 heavy duty truck engines a day. Where would we be today if that 1,000,000 sq. ft. plant were still empty?

Allison passed away in September at the ripe old age of 93. His name has long faded from the lexicon of business leaders responsible for keeping and maintaining jobs in this County.

However, those of us who knew him have not forgotten. Craig Colburn, who became the next Cummins Plant Manager has reflected: “Without Dick Allison, the building of this Cummins plant wouldn’t have happened. He saw the potential here, established the team approach to production at the plant, and convinced the powers-that-be in Columbus to make the investment here.”

General Douglas MacArthur once famously said: “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away!” The same might be said for leaders in corporate America. But, for those of us who met and knew Dick Allison, though he has passed, he has not “faded away.”

Every time I drive by the Cummins engine plant on Baker Street, I think of Dick Allison, and of that first day when he saw the disheveled interior of it, but pushed that impression aside with a vision to create a state-of-the-art, modern engine plant that has become, over the years, one of the most productive and innovative manufacturing facilities in the nation for Cummins Inc.

Fifty years later, we are still beneficiaries of Allison’s vision. Sometimes one person can make the difference.

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.