DUBOIS – Clyde Ott of DuBois, founder of PACE Precision Products, DuBois, will be the guest speaker for the DuBois Area Historical Society’s April 26 meeting.
The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be in the society’s museum at 42 W. Long Ave., DuBois, and will begin at 7 p.m.
Ott originally worked for Rockwell Manufacturing from 1955-67. He encountered what he termed “financial issues” at that time.
To meet those issues, he decided to start his own business, PACE Precision Products. “I was very confident about the decision,” he said.
He leased a building at 21 Ohio Ave., in DuBois, one that he would purchase several years later. He watched his business grow. Eventually, PACE had over 60 customers including General Electric, Gulf United Nuclear and Westinghouse.
Its products met the standards of the National Bureau of Standards. The leading product was spacer grids for nuclear reactors, but diverse items such as the contract case for a nuclear-powered heart pacemaker were also produced.
Ott retired from his business in 2000, but the plant remains a success continuing to produce needed products and employment for the DuBois area.
Upcoming DuBois Area Historical Society activities:
- May 17 – Dining for a Cause fundraiser at the Italian Oven (all day). Voucher required.
- June 2 – E. D. Reitz Museum open during Art Walk on the Block, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- 6 – 11th Annual Spirit of DuBois Lantern Walk, “Exploring the East Side,” leaving from the John E. DuBois Hose Company No. 3 building. Additional details at a later date.
- 10 – Dining for a Cause fundraiser at Italian Oven (all day). Voucher required.