Lebanon County firm PRL has been acquired by Stamford-based Compass Partners, the company announced in a press release Friday.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
PRL, Inc. – originally “Pennsylvania Radiographic Laboratories” – was founded in 1969 and became wholly owned by the late Erwin Herschkowitz in 1972.
The company specializes in manufacturing extremely high-specification metal castings. These castings go into heavy industrial and military equipment, such as the US aircraft carrier the USS Gerald R. Ford, with the fabrications being used in the ship’s most critical of operations, such as its nuclear reactor.
PRL will be combined with another Compass-owned company, Micro Precision Inc, to create a “best-in-class enterprise serving the United States Navy, nuclear power, and railroad industries,” according to the press release.
Both companies will now be run by current MPI CEO, retired US Navy Vice Admiral John Morgan, of whom PRL CEO Janis Herschokowitz said, “his leadership skills and values are second to none.”
“These companies can and will grow as we serve the top priority programs in the Pentagon,” said Admiral Morgan in the release. MPI in particular services US submarine programs, providing components for Virginia and Columbia-class submarines.
“The acquisition by MPI will not only provide additional resources to our talented workforce, but increases PRL’s visibility with the nuclear Navy, and will be instrumental in growing PRL to the next level,” said Herschkowitz.
“PRL’s employees have always been proud of the significant role we’ve played in our nation’s defense,” said co-owner Patricia Herschkowitz. “To continue to do that with our partners at Compass gives us more opportunity to expand and grow our role in providing the best Navy in the world with more diverse components.”
“I think our father would be proud of the direction we are headed.”
The company expects that growth and hiring will continue as part of this merger.
“(On Thursday) we had employee meetings at all four facilities, and they were assured by Admiral Morgan that for them, it would be business as usual,” said Patricia in a followup email to LebTown. “What we are actually hoping for is to grow the number of employees, and we continue to hire.”
To see available positions with PRL, visit the firm’s careers page here.
Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
Do you want to see more from LebTown?
Support local news. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Login here
Free news isn’t cheap. If you value the journalism LebTown provides to the community, then help us make it sustainable by becoming a champion of local news. You can unlock additional coverage for the community by supporting our work with a one-time contribution, or joining as a monthly or annual member. You can cancel anytime.