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S AT U R DAY, AU G U S T 3 , 2 0 1 3
VOLUME 130, NUMBER 153
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Jobless PSC rate Family down business in July serves More than 160k jobs added in U.S. BY CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER Associated Press
entire U.S., Mexico, Canada
BY SHARON SEMANIE WASHINGTON (AP) — For the Daily Call U.S. employers added pdceditorial@civitasmedia.com 162,000 jobs in July, a PIQUA — At six years modest increase and the of age, Jim Sever aspired fewest since March. At the to join his family business same time, the unemploy- formerly known as Piqua ment rate fell to a 4-year Steel Co. and better low of 7.4 percent, a hope- known today as PSC ful sign. Crane and Rigging. AcUnemployment de- companying his father, clined from 7.6 percent in Earl (Lynn) Sever III to June because more Amer- work one day, the youngicans found jobs, and oth- ster typed his name onto ers stopped looking and the company business were no longer counted as card and, 34 years later, unemployed. now serves as PSC’s presStill, Friday’s report ident and chief executive from the Labor Depart- officer. ment pointed to a lessBoth Jim Sever and his than-robust job market. It brother, Randy, vice presisuggested that the econ- dent of sales and business omy’s subpar growth and development, represent modest consumer spend- four generations of visioning are making many aries and hard workers businesses cautious about whose tenacity and deterhiring. mination have helped The government said PSC persevere over the employers added a com- past eight decades. PSC bined 26,000 fewer jobs in Crane and Rigging, loMay and June than it pre- cated west of Piqua on viously estimated. Ameri- U.S. Route 36, is renowned cans worked fewer hours nationwide. Whether it’s in July, and their average hoisting a piano from an pay dipped. And many of church altar to a choir loft the jobs employers added or dismantling 22 trucklast month were for lower- loads of manufacturing paying work at stores, bars and restaurants. For the year, job growth has remained steady. The economy has added an average 200,000 jobs a BY WILL E SANDERS month since January, Staff Writer though the pace has wsanders@civitasmedia.com slowed in the past three PIQUA — A Piqua coumonths to 175,000. ple were transported to Nariman Behravesh, different hospitals, one via chief economist at IHS CareFlight, following a Global Insight, called the employment report Friday morning traffic col“slightly negative,” in part lision at the intersection because job growth for of East Ash Street and May and June was revised Kienle Drive. Authorities said a down. white SUV being driven Scott Anderson, chief by Abigail Townsend, 16, economist at Bank of the of St. Paris, and a 15West, said it showed “a mixed labor market pic- year-old female passenture of continued im- ger, ran a red light at the provement but at a still intersection and careened frustratingly slow pace.” into a yellow Ford Focus being driven by Michael Heath, 65, and his pasSee Jobs/Page 2 senger and wife, Roberta. Heath was airlifted
celebrates 80 years equipment from the state of Washington to be transported cross country to Clopay Building Products in nearby Russia and reassembled, the younger Sever generation continues to follow the family tenets of “trust, honesty and hard work.” Today PSC serves the entire United States, inMexico and cluding Canada. “PSC Crane & Rigging,” report the family “will safely move any machinery, mechanical units, sculptures and similar objects weighing hundreds of tons “ with its fleet of specially designed equipment. “With forklifts up to 30 tons, cranes to 165 tons, and gantry systems up to 500 tons” certified and Occupational and Safety Hazards Administration (OSHA) trained operators and riggers are ready when you are,” they proclaim in marketing websites. The company’s motto “If we don’t take care of our customers someone else will” has held steadfast over the past 80 years. It was 1933 when Earl F. Sever Sr. founded the business that would withstand the Great Depression. Jim Sever explains his great-grandfather-who hailed from Washington Courthouse-surrounded himself with personnel who’d travel weeks on end-leaving families behind- throughout Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Indiana. “It was a time when there was lots of dismantling and demolition-particularly factories and bridges-where dynamite and cutting torches were used as detonation devices.”
SHARON SEMANIE/FOR THE DAILY CALL
Celebrating 80 years of their family business, Piqua Steel Co. and better known today as PSC Crane and Rigging, are the Severs: Earl Jr. (left), Earl (Lynn) III (kneeling in front), and Randy (right) and Jim (center, top) on a crane. As World War II approached, Bill Lear of Lear Avia Corporation reportedly moved his company to Piqua. PSC Crane & Rigging was hired as the prime contractor to rig all the equipment out of the existing plant and later install it in Piqua enabling Severs to enter into the machinery moving, rigging and crane rental industry. Exceptional growth, reports the younger Sever, allowed Earl Sr. to bring his son, Earl Jr., into the family business. Earl Sever Jr., now 92 years old, in turn, welcomed his son, Earl F. (Lynn) Sever, as the third generation member to join PSC. Jim Sever observes “While PSC began with an idea that one individual had in the early 1930s, we all recognized that he could not have created a legacy alone without the support and commitment from the many other individuals and team members he
PROVIDED PHOTO
Founder Earl Sever Sr. working on a train when he started the Piqua Steel Co. in the early 1930s. surrounded himself with. It is important for everyone (at PSC) to recognize that it was the generations before us that have afforded us the opportunity to carry this legacy forward.” While he credits his paternal lineage for their
tenacity and can-do attitude over the years, Jim Severs also gives kudos to his mother, Nancy, who has been instrumental in PSC‘s success. He humbly reminds everyone the company’s prominence on See PSC/Page 2
Piqua couple injured in two-vehicle collision
Index
Classified ...............12-13 Opinion ..........................4 Comics ..........................8 Entertainment ...............5 Local ..............................3 Obituaries......................2 Sports.......................9-11 Weather .........................3 Milestones.....................6 Money Matters ............14
from the scene by CareFlight and transported to the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton while his wife was taken to Upper Valley Medical Center for minor injures. She was later treated and released. Heath was listed in serious condition Friday afternoon, according to hospital officials. The occupants in the SUV were not injured. Members of the Piqua Fire Department had to use hydraulic tools in order to extract the Heath’s from their vehicle. Piqua Deputy Chief MIKE ULLERY/STAFF PHOTO Marty Grove said A two-vehicle crash at the intersection of East Ash Street and Kienle Drive on FriTownsend was cited for a day left two victims injured. Piqua firefighter/paramedics used hydraulic rescue red light violation. tools to cut into the car in order to remove the victims.
Rates, services to increase under health law BY ANN SANNER Associated Press COLUMBUS (AP) — Health insurance rates in Ohio will rise an average of 18 percent for small businesses and 41 percent for individuals participating in the new marketplaces created by the federal health care law, state insurance officials said Thursday. The details were the first glimpse of what Ohioans could see should they purchase private insurance in the exchanges created by President Barack Obama’s health care law. The increases in rates are partly due to con-
sumers receiving more benefits under the plans than previously available. Individuals can get private health insurance, subsidized by the federal government, through the exchange. Open enrollment starts Oct. 1, and coverage takes effect in January. The state’s insurance department said the figures don’t take into account any government help that Ohioans could get to pay for their coverage. The number of plans available to consumers will differ by region, the department said. But small businesses should have two to three plans to pick from while individuals could
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choose from at least four plans. The state’s insurance department calculated the increase in rates by taking the average cost of premiums for all the plans in the exchange, and then comparing them to the average premiums of all plans available in the state at the end of 2012. The agency’s analysis found that the current average monthly cost for individuals was $236.29, compared with an expected average rate of $332.58 next year. The current average monthly rate for small businesses was $341.03, which the state expects to go up to $401.99 next year.