Construction complete at Elliott's new facility in Jeannette

The property that once served as a source of pride for Jeannette is ready to return to those roots.

Construction at Elliott Group’s $60 million cryogenic pump test stand has been completed, returning the parcel once used by Jeannette Glass in the city’s downtown area to an industrial use.

Spokeswoman Christy Bash said the company is in the process of commissioning equipment and hiring.

“We anticipate eventually hiring 100 plus people in Jeannette to support this product line,” she said.

The new facility is expected to be operational later this year.

Ground was broken by Elliott Group in December 2019, and crews transformed the 13-acre site into the testing facility surrounded by a black fence and trees along Bullitt Avenue, about 1.5 miles from the company’s U.S. headquarters in the city. It is in stark contrast to the dilapidated site that was left behind when the Jeannette Glass plant shut down in 1983.

Its new owner, Abraham Zion of New York, bought the property afterwards, leaving it dormant for decades. The Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. purchased it for $305,000 at a 2012 tax sale, but progress was hampered by years of legal challenges from Zion. He died in 2016, and a settlement was reached that year, allowing the county to move forward with a multi-million dollar project to clean up the remnants of glass production, decrepit buildings and asbestos contamination.

The property was sold to Elliott Group for $600,000 in October 2019, the year after the project was completed.

Bash said construction was completed a bit ahead of schedule.

Some of the new jobs will be at the facility while others will work at the company’s existing manufacturing space off Harrison Avenue. There are a few job postings related to cryodynamics on Elliott’s website ranging from operators to management. The listings can be found at www.elliott-turbo.com/Careers.

Elliott Group is one of a few companies in the world that make cryogenic pumps and expanders. Elliott, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tokyo-based Ebara Corp., supplies compressors and turbines for liquefied natural gas plants.