Greensburg, PA, January 3, 2024 – General Carbide, a vertically integrated manufacturer of carbide and steel parts for customersin more than two dozen marketsegments, is the recipient of two awards given at a recent Smart 50 Awards Luncheon in Pittsburgh. The event was hosted by Smart Business, an organization that offers numerous networking and educational business events for entrepreneurs and senior executives nationwide. Smart Business also provides content for those audiences, including the publication of Smart Business magazine.
General Carbide won the Sustainability Award for its success operating in an increasingly environmentally friendly manner and Mona Pappafava-Ray, General Carbide’s President & CEO, was presented with a Smart 50 Award in recognition of her outstanding accomplishments as a corporate leader.
“Both awards reflect the efforts of the entire General Carbide team,” says Pappafava-Ray. “I am extremely proud of everyone’s dedication to excellence. That mindset and the actions that follow from it put us in a strong position to continue thriving in an increasingly dynamic business environment.”
Pappafava-Ray’s leadership is illustrated by General Carbide’s creation of the General Carbide Career Academy (GCCA) earlier this year. The GCCA offers professional development classes to experienced team members on subjects such as Advanced Machining, Training with Live
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Tooling, G-Code, Leadership, Communication, and Safety. The GCCA also teaches new hires about Best Quality Practices for 5S Lean Manufacturing, Use of Calipers & Micrometers, Math for Manufacturing, CNC Programming, Milling & Lathe, and Print Reading.
“We created the GCCA to empower excellence among our employees by giving them the resources they need to be successful and grow in their careers at General Carbide all the way to retirement,” says Pappafava-Ray.
About General Carbide
General Carbide has four facilities and sells its products throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia. The company was established in 1968 by Premo Pappafava (1926- 2002) and is headquartered in Greensburg, PA, near Pittsburgh. Since 2002, Premo’s daughter, Mona Pappafava-Ray, has been at the helm of General Carbide. After joining the company in 1986, upon completion of her Industrial Management degree at Carnegie Mellon University, Mona held numerousstaff and management positions before she was named General Carbide’s President in 1997.
As President and CEO, she has grown the company by transitioning from a manufacturer of semi finished tooling to a leading producer of finished tooling. Mona has also led the company’s efforts to acquire several strategically significant businesses. Despite those changes, she has retained the family atmosphere that has been one of General Carbide’s distinguishing features from the beginning. Throughout her career, Mona has been the recipient of numerous awards for leadership and philanthropy.
As a woman-owned business, General Carbide has achieved certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and has received widespread recognition for business excellence. For more information, contact Denis Pasay at denis@generalcarbide.com or 724.672.4041.
