UGI Helps Fuel BQC Foundry’s Lebanon County Legacy

Natural gas is now fueling production and supporting growth at BQC Foundry.

BQC is an aluminum foundry in Lebanon County that manufactures parts for the military, as well as the medical, automotive and robotics industries. BQC recently switched to natural gas thanks to a new UGI-installed gas line and financial support from Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE). The program provides grants covering up to half of the cost of extending natural gas distribution lines to businesses. BQC also credits Susan Eberly, President and CEO of the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation, with helping secure the grant.

UGI-delivered natural gas provides BQC not only cost-savings, but also the ability to expand and increase capacity.

“We can be more competitive pricing wise. We can bring prices down,” said Brandon Boose, BQC Vice President of Operations. “We can continue to grow and create more jobs in our community. Better-paying jobs is really our goal right now.”

The Boose family operates BQC and has a legacy of making high-quality aluminum sand castings dating back to 1933.

BQC wants to add about 30 additional jobs as it increases production and adds more machines. Most of the company’s castings that need heat treatment are currently shipped to Ohio. BQC wants to bring that step in the process to its Lebanon County facility.

“Doing the budget. Looking at the cost. Looking at the cost savings. It just made sense to move over to natural gas,” says Nick Hemingbrough, BQC’s Operations Project Manager.

That move, and UGI’s construction of the new pipeline, is giving BQC Foundry what it wanted most: an abundant and clean Pennsylvania-produced energy source at a more controlled cost.

Now the company’s ability to do more, with more employees, is possible.