To kick off its 120th year, the Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA) is recognizing leaders of longtime member organizations who have contributed to the Association’s longevity, the regional business community as well as their own operations and industries. Here, John B. Pellegrino Sr., P.E., president and CEO of Ridg-U-Rak, Inc. in North East, Pennsylvania, shares the defining moments of his career as a longtime member and only local leader to be named chairman emeritus of the MBA Board of Governors.
Recognized as an MBA Icon of Industry, what do you consider the defining moments in your career?
It really started with my childhood. I was born in 1931 during the Great Depression and my father worked at a logging camp between Queens Creek and Hickory Creek outside of Warren, PA. The surveyors really made an impression, and I told my dad that I didn’t want to be one of the guys pounding spikes, but rather one of the engineers doing the surveying. Of course, that didn’t happen right away.
In my senior year at Warren Area High School, the Korean War broke out and I was drafted into the Navy. I was the only one of the three students in my class who got drafted to survive the war.
I ended up earning my diploma while serving for four years at sea on the USS Dyess (DDR-880), and I became a petty officer first class within three years, which is extremely rare. When I returned home from the service, I decided to pursue a civil engineering degree at Tri-State University (now Trine) in Angola, Indiana. I’m very proud to be an active alumnus of Trine and my son, John Jr., serves on their Board of Directors. They are currently constructing a new engineering building at Trine that will be dedicated to my wife Mary and I that will help other students pursue engineering careers.
For me, my career really started in 1960 when I got my first design and engineering job at Erie Strayer. I worked on the batch plants that were instrumental in building the interstate system. I also became a licensed professional engineer during my time there, and I’m very proud of that. Ham Strayer ran a tight ship, and I learned a lot from working for him.
Obviously, another defining moment for you took place in 1976 when you joined Ridg-U-Rak as its first onsite engineer.
I was an engineer, but I also wore many hats including sales and as a plant engineer. I’m proud to say that I had a hit rate of 90 percent on closing projects that I was involved with.
When I joined Ridg-U-Rak, I also became involved in the Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI) — Ridg-U-Rak was one of its founding members. It was predominantly a social group then, but after I got involved, it became instrumental in writing the specifications for rack system manufacturers nationwide.
One of my proudest achievements was the work I did with Professor Wes Midgely of Youngstown State University to design, test and engineer the cross sections and systems that are used in pallet rack systems today. I brought those specifications to RMI. With my involvement through Ridg-U-Rak, the group became more of a technical group and a lot of those specifications are now in the international building codes and model codes that are used in every state in the United States.
The biggest moment of my career came in 1989. I bought Ridg-U-Rak outright and became its sole owner. Even today, Ridg-U-Rak is one of the only longtime family owned businesses in our industry and one of the original founding members of RMI.
Ridg-U-Rak has been a leader in storage system for decades. What innovations or strategic decisions have you made that helped elevate Ridg-U-Rak’s reputation across the manufacturing sector?
As an engineer, I wanted to build a culture where we weren’t just a manufacturer, but an engineering innovator in our industry. Ridg-U- Rak is looked at as one of the leading innovators in the pallet rack manufacturing industry.
In the late 1990s, I also developed a system now called the Pellegrino Seismic Base Isolation System. Basically, you mount the pallet rack system on this base isolation system, and when a seismic event occurs, it absorbs much of the energy and doesn’t impart as much of that motion and accelerations to the rack system. They did more than 100 full-scale seismic tests on these tables up at the State University of New York in Buffalo to prove that, and it is one of the greatest innovations to occur in the pallet rack industry in modern history. There are YouTube videos on the system, and it has won national awards in the seismic engineering community.
Looking forward, how do you see the future of the manufacturing industry evolving, and what role do you envision Ridg-U-Rak playing as a leader, particularly as a member of the MBA?
We are an active and major sponsor of the MBA’s Annual Event and events like MFG Day, and I’m very proud of that. I’m also a big believer in people and building things with your hands. It’s an extremely important part of our company and our manufacturing processes.
At Ridg-U-Rak, we lead by doing the right things. We recycle. We powder coat paint. We don’t use solvent paints anymore. We don’t even need a VOC permit.
We’re also big believers in philanthropy and supporting the community, and my wife Mary and I take a lot of silent pride in getting involved and giving back.
As an influential business leader and past MBA chairman, what principles or philosophies have helped guide you throughout your career?
I built a culture for our company based on integrity, honesty and respect. We always make operating with integrity and honesty a priority with our clients. Even with our competition within RMI, it’s been extremely important. Part of our strategy is to maintain that culture of integrity. We have a slogan under our logo that says, “Famous for Integrity,” and we never lose sight of maintaining integrity in our industry.
A big principle/philosophy of mine is people’s attitude. It’s part of our hiring culture. We don’t strive to hire the PhDs of the world. More important is people’s attitude, their character, and I’ve got a sign in my office that says, “It’s all about attitude.” The sign reads: “Either you control your attitude or it controls you,” and I live by that. I’m a strong believer in hard work and a strong work ethic.
The manufacturing industry faces both opportunities and challenges. How has being part of the MBA helped your organization thrive?
We use the training programs a lot in every aspect of our operation. Many of our supervisors go through the Supervisory Skills Series. Our staff also takes many of the computer training courses. We’ve had some Word classes, but we use Excel a lot in the technical engineering and sales areas. We use the HR training and roundtables for our HR managers, and part-time HR services as well. We have enjoyed using the Conference Center over the years for sales meetings and strategic meetings, and we always look forward to receiving the Business Magazine.
As the MBA marks its 120th anniversary in 2025, what is your favorite memory from your time as a member?
I’ve still got pictures of me sitting at the end of a U-shaped table at the MBA when I was chairman next to Ralph Pontillo (late president and CEO of Association). We were very close. He always said the difference between the MBA and other trade associations is that the Association is always on the sideline supporting, but it’s not about them. It’s always about the member. It is an organization that lives that every day, and Ralph was the epitome of that.
I also was very proud to be granted emeritus in the Association during its 100th anniversary, and I’m still the only one in its 120-year history. I’m honored and humbled by that recognition.
What does being a longtime MBA member mean to you?
Everything. I take a lot of pride in being involved with the MBA.
To learn more, visit ridgurak.com.
