Mountain Productions was built upon early ambition, success

WILKES-BARRE – The western hemisphere’s largest staging company occupies a 17-acre parcel in the Rolling Mill Hills section of the city, but unless you make a wrong turn onto New Frederick Street you’d probably never know it was there.

Company founder and President Jim Evans is proud of Mountain Productions’ success and said he enjoys “flying under the radar.” But the relative obscurity in their hometown is lost in cities like New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

Mountain Productions is a household name in the international concert and production realm, creating staging, roof systems, grandstands and bleachers for events large and small.

A dry erase board at the company’s office shows commitments the firm has scheduled throughout the year. It includes big events such as state fairs in New Mexico and Vermont, a music festival in Bermuda and the New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square.

The live Nativity scene in Trucksville, a Winterfest in Lynchburg, Va. and a high school play in Tinton Falls, N.J. also have spaces on the schedule, something Evans said illustrates a company hallmark that no event is too small.

Evans, 60, grew up on Parrish Street, three blocks from the company’s current spread, and graduated from Meyers High School in 1967.

He sold building supplies for Eastern Penn Supply Company but his involvement with the National Guard led to his calling in the entertainment business.

It was 1979 and the state cut off funding for National Guard recruitment programs. He came up with an idea to hold a fundraising concert at the 109th Field Artillery Armory and the band America was on board. But the promoter said the venue needed a stage. Not wanting to see his plans fall apart, he told the promoter it wouldn’t be a problem.

“I said ‘sure, I could build it,’ ” knowing full well that he had never done such a thing before.

He enlisted locals to help, including area high school kids, and the show was a success. His stage wasn’t too bad either.

“We got a second job,” Evans said, noting Cheap Trick came to the armory two months later.

Word started to spread and soon he was creating stages and set pieces for shows from Ithaca to Easton.

“I was running here and running there,” Evans said, noting he still was working his full-time job selling building supplies.

An ever-higher profile

A show at Rutgers University in New Jersey put him in the good graces of a production manager who respected his product and effort. He asked Evans to move into the big time, doing the staging for the now landmark free Concert in Central Park performed by Simon and Garfunkel on Sept. 19, 1981. The concert drew 500,000 people and set Evans on a path away from selling building supplies and into a new career.

“Right after that concert we were rolling. We were busy,” Evans, who now resides in Mountain Top, said.

Working from a trailer in a field off of Stanton Street, Evans and a handful of employees were becoming a well-known entity in the concert industry. They were hired for tours by Genesis in 1981 and Journey in 1983. Then in 1984 came the Michael Jackson Victory tour. The work was getting more complex and more people were hired. The company moved into the former Air Products facility on New Frederick Street, where it’s been ever since, though it has expanded. The facility has two buildings – one is 100,000 square feet, the second is 20,000.

Evans credits the workers he’s surrounded himself with over the years for the company’s success.

“I’m very fortunate. I tell a lot of great people what to do and they do a wonderful job and we get asked back,” he said.

The company has been hired the past 13 years for the New Year’s Eve event in Times Square, nine papal visits and numerous presidential inaugurations.

And Evans said the company’s continued success and growth – it’s nearly doubled its number of employees the past 15 years – is due to its reputation in the industry.

“It’s just word of mouth. It’s a very small, cliquey industry. Word of mouth and reputation got us exactly where we are today,” he said.

Recognizing success

The company’s 30 years of successful service to its industry has brought it multiple awards. And on Tuesday the business will add another one. The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce will honor the company as its small business of the year award recipient. The recognition will occur during the chamber’s 125th annual dinner at Genetti’s Hotel and Conference Center in Wilkes-Barre.

Chamber Executive Vice President Donna Sedor said the company embodies what a local small business should be.

“We look for small business that is not only successful but also has a commitment to the community and brings positive attention to the region and that’s what Mountain Productions does. And they’ve made a commitment to hiring locally,” she said.

The firm is one of about a dozen in the country that does this kind of work on this scale. And it does it almost exclusively with homegrown talent.

Of the 55 employees, all but about three are from the area. Many on staff either have diplomas from Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center or degrees from Wilkes University, King’s College or the University of Scranton.

CHAMBER AWARDS

Mountain Productions will receive the Small Business of the Year Award during Tuesday’s annual dinner at Genetti’s in Wilkes-Barre. James Brozena, executive director of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority, is the Distinguished Citizen Award recipient.