Tyrone is a quiet town. However, John Russell wants to change that.
“I was raised here and I’ve moved around the country a lot and Tyrone was somewhere where I knew I wanted to be long term,” explains Russell.
When he acquired 25 wireless business locations across five states, he wanted his headquarters based in his hometown.
He bought a building in downtown Tyrone on Pennsylvania avenue back in 2011.
About six years later, Elevation Management Group (EMG Brands) was born.
“We own six different businesses that operate out of this building,” says Russell.
Russell, who is also the CEO of EMG Brands, has plans to buy more buildings in downtown Tyrone. “Today we have three store fronts. One is Green Homes Solutions, and one will be a print shop, and the other will be a our cafe/coffee shop with offices above them in the second and third floor.”
“We just finished demolition, waiting on the permit to to start construction,” says Russell as he opens the door to the store front of the future cafe and coffee shop.
Next door is a temporary call center. Employees there are getting ready to move into a bigger space so he can hire more people.
“The call center itself we’re looking to have somewhere in the 75 to 100 employees. Today, it’s at about 15 employees,” says Russell.
The call center helps support businesses like Green Home Solution which offers services using green and and natural products for your home.
Entrepreneur Magazine recently named it one of the Top 500 Franchises in the country.
While his businesses are growing, Russell wants Tyrone grow too.
“Our vision is to continue to revitalize downtown buildings by bringing companies that we own or companies that see what we’re doing and want to be part of what we’re doing and take advantage of some of the benefits of being in a town like Tyrone,” explains Russell.
“He’s really leading the way,” says Altoona Blair County Development Corporation President and CEO Steve McKnight. He says Russell represents exactly what the organization is trying to do.
“Which is reach out to folks to used to live in the area and they find they’re in a position to move their businesses back here and open it up, invest, buy buildings on main street, in a community that can benefit from that,” says McKnight.
Russell says he has some big plans coming up.
“The goal is just to continue to invest in businesses that we can make an impact in and part of the deal is they have to relocate to Tyrone. A, Because we’re trying to revitalize the area and B, we have all of our resources and infrastructure here,” he says.
And in time, Russell expects the streets of downtown Tyrone to be bustling with business.
If you are interested in applying for a job, you can e-mail your resume to jobs@emgbrands.com