Harsco Plans $2 Million Revitalization Of Its Harrisburg Birthplace As Regional Super Center, Anticipates Nearly 20 New Jobs

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 28, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Worldwide industrial services and engineered products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced plans today for revitalizing its long-standing Harrisburg Steel operating site in central Harrisburg as a new regional super center for its Infrastructure business group. The initiative will create nearly 20 new jobs for the region's economy and bring new vitality to the birthplace of the Company's industrial heritage.

The Company plans to invest more than $2 million in the site's preparation, modernization and security, much of which is already underway. Full operations are expected to begin in April of this year. 

The project adds to initiatives that Harsco is also taking to strengthen operations at its world headquarters in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, located just outside Harrisburg. Under Harsco Chairman, President and CEO Salvatore D. Fazzolari, the Company has relocated the senior leadership of its Harsco Metals, Harsco Minerals, Harsco Infrastructure and Harsco Industrial groups to the corporate headquarters, bringing in approximately 35 senior-level executives and supporting managers from its worldwide businesses to operate as a unified global leadership team and enhance the Company's strategic planning and business management processes under its OneHarsco initiative. The expansion has also resulted in the Company securing nearly 10,000 square feet of additional nearby office space for a number of its corporate functions.

Together, the initiatives reflect a combined total of approximately 55 new executive, managerial, administrative and skilled labor positions that have been created through Harsco's presence in the area, while also creating significant benefit for the region's economy. In taking these actions, the Company undertook a review of several alternatives and chose to reaffirm its long-standing commitment to Pennsylvania in view of the Commonwealth's bright future and improving business climate.

Formed in 1853 as the Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Company, the Company first began production of freight and passenger railway cars for the growing American railway system. The Company later transitioned into the production of seamless gas cylinders and industrial metal products and in the 1930s established itself as the internationally-known Harrisburg Steel Corporation, the predecessor to today's publicly-traded Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC), which was formed in 1956.