• COVER STORY: BONNEY FORGE •
Forge Standard
An aerial view of a portion of Bonney Forge’ s 300,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Mount Union, Pennsylvania.
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❮ Final weld bevel finishing on a custom, made-to-order integrally reinforced branch connection at W. F. I. International in Houston, Texas.
As Gulf + Western sharpened its direction, Bonney Forge represented an opportunity for new, dedicated ownership, the kind that could give the company the singular focus and longterm investment it deserved.
John Leone answered the call.
The Man Behind the Company John Leone was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the only son among two sisters, in a household where hard work was the first language and expectations were never left unspoken. From an early age, Leone understood what it meant to earn something.
His family had built their life through discipline and dedication, and those values were not suggested to the next generation. They were demonstrated, every day, in everything around him.
Leone was the first in his family to attend college. He enrolled at The Pennsylvania State University, earning a degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering. Two summers working in the oil fields of Oklahoma during his college years gave Leone something no classroom could: a firsthand understanding of the industry he would one day help shape.
It is worth noting that his relationship with Penn State runs as deep as it does long. Decades after graduating, Leone ' s generosity helped establish the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, a lasting contribution to the institution that shaped him. On
John Leone at the corporate headquarters in Mount Union, Pennsylvania, 1998.
autumn Saturdays in Happy Valley, Bonney Forge has long had a presence at Beaver Stadium, a quiet nod to a bond that blue and white loyalty tends to make permanent.
After graduating, Leone joined Gulf Oil in Venezuela, then made his way into
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