Advanced Finishing USA (AFUSA) has been a part of the Erie community for 50 years. Started as a family business by Walter Yahn, almost all of the Yahn family has worked at AFUSA over the decades, grandchildren included. In 1970, AFUSA became an official business in the Erie community; originally as Plastic Coating and Molding- with just a used pizza oven and a used powder coating gun. From these humble beginnings, AFUSA started doing business for local companies, with a few friends and high school students as employees, and eventually developed into the large-scale, international company we are today.

Throughout our history, we have always put our community’s interests first. Walter’s son, Greg Yahn, President of Sales at Advanced Finishing USA, shares that “You have to support your community. Places like Fairview High School, Presque Isle State Park, the Erie Zoo and Hamot Hospital. These are the important places that make the community worthwhile to live in, and they deserve our support. We were supported by the Erie community from the start, and we return that support to the community today. We support them by writing checks, providing services, working with the schools in the community to better the future, and supporting the environment we live in. The company would not be what it is today without the support and dedication from our community, and it is an honor to give back to it.”

AFUSA has employed families from the community for decades. Greg proudly boasts, “As you see in our value statement, our community is listed in importance ahead of the business owners because, without community, there is no business.” AFUSA employees are a collection of families and are treated as such. Greg shared that “We understand that this is your job, and your family is your family. You can always find a new job, but you can’t find a new family.” To be accommodating to the lives of the people in the community allows for the growth and blossoming of the community itself. We look forward to continuing to serve our employees as well as our community.