Coatesville’s massive steel plant, America’s longest continuously operating steel mill, has helped shape the city’s identity since it opened in 1810.

However, steel isn’t the only product manufactured in Coatesville that is in high demand, writes Molly Ball for Time magazine.

For John Rock Inc., a manufacturer of wooden pallets, business is booming.

“There’s plenty of jobs,” said Bill MacCauley, John Rock’s owner. “Our biggest challenge is labor.”

According to MacCauley, his products are the unsung heroes of the American economy.

[uam_ad id=”71803″]

Advertisement

“Pallets are a better barometer of the economy than anything else,” he said. “Everything in this country moves on a pallet.”

MacCauley has modernized and expanded John Rock since he took over the business in 1997. Today, the factory nails together 20,000 pallets a day, making it one of the Top Five pallet-making facilities in the country.

According to MacCauley, the job market is so tight that the company has started recruiting women for what has traditionally been men’s work.

Click here to read more about Coatesville and John Rock Inc. in Time magazine.

[uam_ad id=”58462″]