Meet John
John Emmons is respected in business, dedicated to his family and community, and driven by a desire to give back.
Recruited out of college, John Emmons started as a chemical engineer with Armstrong World Industries and rapidly rose to become a plant manager in the company, running one of the focused business units at the Armstrong facility in Lancaster. Following his career at Armstrong, he spent the next 16 years serving as director of operations for Mannington Mills in Salem, NJ. Since 2015, John has held the role of director of operations for Interface Performance Materials/Lydall based in Lancaster, PA. In these roles John has managed hundreds of employees in multiple states and around the world, balancing budgets, meeting critical deadlines, solving problems, and continually improving outcomes.
In 2007, dismayed by what he saw as a lack of fiscal responsibility in Washington and a wrong direction for the country, Emmons became active in politics, fearlessly calling out both parties for their unwillingness to stand for the principles of our nation’s founding. He founded activist coalitions, served in party leadership, and volunteered for campaigns of candidates he believed in.
But throughout his career and his time in politics, John Emmons has lived in accordance with the principles he learned growing up on a small farm. His father worked in a factory and later became a rural letter carrier. After he and his siblings were old enough, his mother went back into the work force as a school teacher. His grandmother was the postmaster in the small town and owned the town’s small general store. And at the end of each day, there was always work for all still to be done tending the farm animals and managing the day-to-day operations of the farm.
At the age of 10, John started mowing lawns. By the age of 14, he had a summer job working 48 hours a week on a neighbor’s farm in addition to mowing lawns, and, of course, working on the family farm to keep it operating. Everything he had, he earned.
John excelled at school, finishing near the top of his class. He played high school sports – football, basketball, and baseball – helping to win league championships in football and baseball his senior year. He then went on to study chemical engineering at SUNY/Buffalo graduating with cum laude honors.
John and his wife Alison raised three children and today live a life that echoes their values: Faith, commitment to community, service as a Deacon at Bellevue Presbyterian Church, responsible stewardship of the environment, and a deep love for the opportunities that have made America the beacon of hope for the world.