Photo furnished
Agri-Fab Founders
Original founders of Agri-Fab left to right:  Milton Harshman, Stanley Van Hook, Kent Harris, Evan Dickens, Ron Harshman and Harold King.

•May 10, 2017•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

In February of this year Ron Harshman received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sullivan’s Chamber and Economic Development luncheon. He recently granted me an interview for this history of Agri-Fab.

The history of Agri-Fab is one based on faith - from the original faith-based Community Industries to the faith of the founders in the miracle industry they could create. Faith in the value of successful partnerships and, most importantly, faith in their employees to constantly rise to the challenges put before them in an ever-changing manufacturing industry. It is a story of doors closing and new windows of opportunity opening.

Agri-Fab’s first window of opportunity opened with the closing of Yard-Man in 1975. With 250 employees it was the largest employer in Sullivan and many families depended on Yard-Man and Brown Shoe both of which closed in 1975 - traumatic events for a small community like Sullivan.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.