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Ventures began 60 years ago

Wednesday, October 03, 2001

By Eve Modzelewski, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Sixty years ago, Charles Snyder asked his brother for $1,000 so that he could start a small construction and coal company in Kittanning.

	Brothers Elmer Snyder, 86, left, and Charles, 93, together run Snyder Associated Companies, a medley of 11 businesses including the Allegheny Minerals limestone quarry outside Harrisville, Butler County. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)

It was a rather humble beginning for a partnership that would become one of the biggest employers in Armstrong County, with a string of seemingly disparate businesses ranging from coal and limestone to candy, oranges and mushrooms.

And despite their age -- Charles is 93 and Elmer is 86 -- the brothers still keep tabs on things, showing up at their Kittanning office five days a week. "Sometimes six or seven," said Elmer, president of Snyder Associated Companies, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Over the years, as the miniconglomerate evolved into a medley of 11 businesses that employ about 1,000, the two have been quick to spot opportunity and, no matter how incongruous a venture may have seemed -- after all, mushroom mines are a sharp departure from construction -- they bought when the price was right.

It's been a partnership built on hard work, commitment and a willingness to take risks.

"Elmer and I spent many a night on the back steps of our house, trying to sort out what we were going to do," said Charles, the firm's chairman.

The brothers started branching out from their coal and construction business in 1948, with the purchase of Glacial Sand & Gravel Co. Then, in 1951, when Elmer was sick and temporarily moved to Florida to escape the cold, he discovered and jumped on another business prospect -- Highway Equipment & Supply, a heavy equipment business in Orlando, Fla., that serves Disney and other large customers in central Florida.

That year turned out to be quite a busy one for the Snyders. Encouraged by an attorney they knew, they started construction in 1951 on the 16-room Royle Motel in Kittanning, which has since grown to 65 rooms and is now called the Quality Inn Royle.

Over the years, the Snyders continued to snap up businesses. In 1984, they bought Logan Candy Co., which supplies 140 stores in and around Butler County; a year later, they bought a 1,400-acre orange grove in Seabring, Fla., because the price was attractive and it's "one of the main agricultural industries in Florida," Charles said.

A decade later, the brothers worked their way into one of the main agricultural industries in Armstrong County, purchasing the Creekside Mushroom Farm, which produces 25 million pounds of mushrooms a year. The farm, a major employer in Armstrong County, is run by a separate operating company and consists of converted limestone mines nestled 300 feet underground, spanning a 150-mile labyrinth of tunnels.

The list of Snyder acquisitions goes on, and includes the Farmers National Bank of Kittanning and Superior Well Services, which serves oil and gas wells in the region.

With so many different factions of the company, Charles and Elmer Snyder have brought in two subsequent generations of the family to help manage things. Charles' son joined the company early on, in 1948, and his grandchildren followed suit a few decades later. Elmer's three sons also help run the company.

"They all started to work as soon as they were old enough to do so," Elmer said. "We just look over their shoulders every once in a while. We've had a very good rapport at the company."

When Charles was 14, he dropped out of school to work full time and has been working ever since. And though Elmer did finish high school, he started working immediately after graduation. Despite their long years of work, the two shun the idea of retirement and say they'll keep coming into the office as long as they can.

For them, it's not a matter of money, it's a pastime, Charles said. "It's something I just enjoy doing."