By LISA SIMPSON STRANGE
Glasgow Daily Times
December 06, 2008 04:18 pm
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IDEA’s new executive director didn’t begin his career on the ground level in industry. He started below ground.
Dan Iacconi grew up about 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pa., and for 12 years worked 500 feet underground for Gateway Coal Company in Washington, Pa.
“I graduated from high school and went straight into the coal mine in 1975,” Iacconi said.
While he worked in the mine, he also continued his education and received his Residential and Industrial Electrical Wiring Certification in 1979 from Fayette Institute of Technology in Uniontown, Pa. After he became an A.C. electrician, he enrolled in 1982 at California University of Pennsylvania, in California, Pa., where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in manufacturing technology in 1987 and a Master of Science degree in business administration in 1988.
In 1987, he was laid off from the coal mine and took a job working as a court constable, or “Bull on ‘Night Court’” as Iacconi describes it, for a year with Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi at Fayette County Courthouse in Uniontown, Pa.
After he finished graduate school, he accepted a position with General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1989, as a numerical control engineer and worked with APT and CAD/CAM systems, programming all the parts for fuselages for F-16 fighter jets.
His father became ill in 1990 and he wanted to move back closer to home, so he took a job as a manufacturing and industrial engineer with Rockwell International’s graphics division, which manufactured, among other things, printing presses for newspapers. In 1992, he became a project coordinator for Rockwell in Reading, Pa.
Iacconi arrived in Glasgow in April of 1993 when he was hired as the assistant production superintendent and senior industrial engineer for SKF USA, Inc. Later that year, he was promoted to production superintendent of the TRB Division.
In 1995, he became plant manager of the hub division of SKF in Glasgow with 250 employees. He managed a new manufacturing/project start-up that represented 50 percent of plant sales volume. During this time, productivity was improved by 20 percent by revising the manufacturing process, according to Iacconi.
He took over as vice president of operations for Casting Technology Company, in Franklin, Ind., in 1996. For that year, he chose to keep his residence in Glasgow, commuting the three hours home each weekend.
Iacconi was named vice president and general manager HBU USA of SKF Automotive Division, in Aiken, S.C., in 1997. He made the decision in 2000 when he was asked by the company to relocate to its “up and coming” plant in Greenville, S.C., to decline the opportunity and stay in Glasgow.
He said he’s worked all over the country, in Texas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Indiana, and Glasgow is where he wants to be.
“I chose this to be my home,” he said. “That’s how comfortable I am here.”
J.L. French Corporation hired Iacconi in June of 2000 as general manager for both the die cast and machining facilities in Glasgow. He was responsible for the direction and supervision for the two facilities with a total work force of 500 employees and total sales of $150 million.
Now that he has been named executive director of the Glasgow-Barren County Industrial Development and Economic Authority and with his tenure beginning officially on Jan. 2, Iacconi said he will continue to work with J.L. French for several months to help them with the successful launch of a new program.
“I will help them get through a transition phase,” he said. “They are working on a new program for one of the Big 3. I will be assisting them in whatever needs they feel they need my expertise.”
He said the work will be open-ended for a period of three to six months and will be done after hours so as not to interfere with his duties with IDEA.
Iacconi has already been learning about his new position. Although officially on vacation this past week, he was meeting each day with Don Doty, interim IDEA director, “just trying to get familiar working at IDEA with Don, tapping his knowledge and understanding, to make the transition as smooth as possible. I can come in at least running not walking.”
During his week “off,” he was also scheduled to host GM executives while they were in town. Later this month he will make trips to Mexico and South Korea.
Iacconi said he is excited about the new position with IDEA and wants to make sure the community is aware of what the entity is doing for the area.
“I believe it’s very important to outline your action plans and let the community know what endeavors we are embarking on and to keep them abreast of what our efforts are and what’s occurring to show them the effort of what potential prospects will be coming to our area and just keeping them updated,” he said. “I think that’s critical – that communication channel is established in the community and to let everyone know IDEA is working on it. I think it is imperative for that communication to be there.”
He said Glasgow and Barren County have the qualities for which relocating industries look.
“We have outstanding infrastructure to support any new endeavors that we pursue,” Iacconi said. “We are very attractive, I believe, in the marketplace to bring in all kinds of industry and businesses because of the higher education systems. Even the high schools and vocational schools tailor programs now to develop skill sets that are going to lead manufacturing and advanced manufacturing fields looking to move.”
He also said he thinks diversification is key.
“We must get more diversified in our industry so when one sector starts to slump, as we are seeing now in the automotive, it doesn’t have a significant impact on the entire community,” he stressed. “That would be one of my main objectives – to look at diversifying into different areas.
“I think this community has a lot of opportunity and the leadership in this community has been just outstanding working with me all the way from the city, county and state officials,” he said. “I’ve worked with the IDEA board before. They’re committed, as all our local officials are committed, to improving the standard of living and the quality of life in Glasgow.”
The people make the difference, he said. They are the vital assets to the community.
“I just like the people in this area. I believe they are dedicated. I’ve been here since 1993 and I’ve seen they’re loyal,” Iacconi added. “They have great skill sets. They’re team-oriented and that’s just a wonderful place to be when you’re trying to manage an organization to have those kind of dedicated people.
“We have that opportunity here to have skilled workers because they have demonstrated that to me for 16 years. Their talent is here. The community has demonstrated their leadership to me on how committed they are. The state has dedicated their leadership on how committed they are and I believe we have opportunity here.”
Dan and his wife, Shelia Samson Iacconi, married in 1997. They have a stepdaughter, Shawna, who is married to Don Reeves, and a grandson, Landon Chase Thomas.
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