[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S6130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    55TH ANNIVERSARY OF ACCUWEATHER

 Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, today I rise to celebrate the 55th 
anniversary of AccuWeather, the worldwide weather service headquartered 
in State College, PA.
  AccuWeather was founded by Dr. Joel Myers, who received his Ph.D. 
from the Pennsylvania State University and is currently a fellow of the 
American Meteorological Association. Dr. Myers got his start weather 
forecasting for gas and utility companies in Pennsylvania. In the 1960s 
and 1970s, Dr. Myers taught at Penn State and continued to expand his 
weather forecasting business to include highway departments, utility 
companies, construction companies, and ski resorts.
  The name ``AccuWeather'' was first used in 1971 to service the WARM-
AM radio station in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region. In 1972, 
AccuWeather serviced its first television station, WPVI-TV in 
Philadelphia. Many of AccuWeather's first customers are still customers 
today.
  In the 1980s, AccuWeather developed the USA TODAY weather page and 
became the official weather forecaster at the World Fair in Kentucky. 
The company also produced the weather maps for the Associated Press.
  AccuWeather has been a global name since the 1970s. Having first 
established an international presence serving customers in Canada, 
AccuWeather has expanded to providing services all around the world for 
customers in locations such as South Asia, the Middle East and South 
America. Some of these global services include providing forecasts to 
help with crop rotation and forecasts for major ports, television 
stations, and newspapers. AccuWeather currently serves over 43,000 Zip 
Codes and over 1.5 billion people.
  Dr. Myers and AccuWeather have been recognized on the State and 
national level, receiving the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters 
Pride in Pennsylvania Business Award, an Outstanding Job Generator 
Award from the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, PA, 
and five Telly Awards. This year, AccuWeather received an award as the 
No. 1 most accurate forecaster by ForecastWatch, an industry tracker. 
Dr. Myers was honored as one of the 528 greatest entrepreneurs in 
American history with his biographical inclusion in Entrepreneur 
Magazine's Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs.
  In Centre County, PA, AccuWeather employs over 400 people in a 
facility that houses 23 radio booths and a TV studio with state-of-the-
art equipment. AccuWeather is also a family business, with Dr. Myers' 
brothers serving as officers--Barry Lee Myers is the CEO and Evan Myers 
is the COO and senior vice president. I wish AccuWeather the best and 
look forward to its continued success serving Pennsylvania and many 
others around the world.

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