Company Profi le
www.parkworld-online.com
Ed and Seth Alberts
It All Started with a Piper Cub Airplane
It is 1978. Harold Sitler, maintenance manager of Hersheypark, has just observed a Ralph S. Alberts’ molded crash pad in a Piper Cub aircraft. The result will change the course of the future for a small molding business based in Montoursville, Pennsylvania... Kathy Archer reports
O 58
n the spot, Sitler decided to see whether this type of molded foam padding, manufactured by the Ralph S. Alberts Company, might be a good replacement
for the existing upholstered padding on Hersheypark’s water fl ume ride, the Coal Cracker, designed by Arrow Development. The result was an unprecedented improvement. Excited to explore the potential for business in the amusement industry, Ed and Linda Alberts decided to attend the magnifi cent amusement industry show called IAAPA. After just the fi rst two days of the show, Ed lost his voice from speaking with so many interested park representatives, who were captivated by the advanced safety padding option. When Ed returned home, anticipating new growth
Ralph S. Alberts
opportunities in the amusement industry, he convinced his father to invest in a modernized piece of dispensing equipment: an venture far exceeding the entire production building’s value. From there, opportunities for development and installation of padding came from Kennywood Park, PA and soon spread across the Six Flags organization. From what was literally a garage-based business in 1963, RS Alberts (operated today by second- and third-generation owners, Ed and Seth Alberts) has grown into more than 75,000 square feet of manufacturing space, with more than six sophisticated, state-of- the-art foam metering machines built by German engineers. And oh, the numbers speak volumes. In a typical off-season
alone, the company will fabricate or refurbish more than 20,000 safety padding devices for amusement rides in parks across the globe. RS Alberts takes great pride in providing high quality safety padding to virtually every amusement park in the US, many international parks, and to more than 47 amusement industry manufacturers.
Great Scott! In the early 90’s, Ed Alberts was invited by Universal Studios Hollywood to quote a job for a new ride Universal’s creative team was designing. Ed called the airport and arranged an outbound fl ight to California, arriving about noon. Once inside the movie production lot on Universal’s property, Ed found himself on the fi lming set of Back to the Future Part III, watching
JANUARY 2018
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74
