News and Updates

Congratulations Steve Brdaric!

Steve Brdaric of MetroTEST Energy Services in Kunkletown, PA is the winner of Round #1 of the 2013 Great Locator Giveaway. Steve was given his choice of any new Schonstedt magnetic locator and he selected the GA-72Cd. The 60 Winners of the $60 Gift Certificates will be posted early next week!

Click here to enter GLG Round #2.

Schonstedt was featured in the December edition of the WV Dept. of Commerce business publication, "The Edge", with a focus on our Humanitarian Demining Initiative.

Here is a link to the online e-Magazine version of the publication

The Corporate Responsibility Officers Association (CROA) has cited Schonstedt for its commitment to global humanitarian demining. CROA calls on individuals and companies to make commitments that will change the world.

Schonstedt is among nine companies that have responded
[Read More in this pdf]

Click here to see the Schonstedt commitment

Mine clearance along a power line in Eastern Croatia. Photo Courtesy of the Croatian Mine Action Centre (CROMAC)

Humanitarian Demining
One Company's Program of Social Responsibility
By Bob Ebberson, Corporate Responsibility Officer and Director of Business Development, Schonstedt Instrument Company

Landmines, unexploded submunitions and explosive remnants of war (ERW) all pose a serious and ongoing threat to civilians. During and after conflicts, these weapons can be found on roads, footpaths, farmers’ fields, forests, deserts, along borders, in and surrounding houses and schools, and in other places where people carry out their daily activities. They can deny access to food, water and other basic needs, and inhibit freedom of movement, thus limiting people’s ability to participate in education or access medical care. Mine and ERW contamination may also prevent the repatriation of refugees and internally displaced people, as well as hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid. (Source: Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor: www.the-monitor.org)

Read Bob Ebberson's full article at Center for a Better Life

Journal photo by Michelle Horst

October 17, 2012
By Michelle Horst - Journal Staff Writer

KEARNEYSVILLE - Two Jefferson County businesses have expanded from West Virginia into the international market. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, the West Virginia Export Council and the West Virginia Development Office are recognizing this accomplishment.

Debra Martin, international trade manager of the West Virginia Development Office, presented Schonstedt Instrument Company of Kearneysville and STaSIS Engineering of Summit Point with the Governor's Commendation for International Market Entry on Monday afternoon.

"I think it's great when you think about a little company in West Virginia, we just have 26 employees here in Kearneysville, and we've shipped to 85 countries around the world. About 30 percent of our business comes from outside the United States," Mark Pugh, CEO of Schonstedt Instrument Company, said.

Read full article here

The Cluster for Humanitarian Demining, Ltd. (CHD) is based in Zagreb, Croatia, "founded with the aim to promote, lead and co-ordinate developmental activities in humanitarian demining abroad." At their August 22 meeting in Sisak the members unanimously voted to admit Schonstedt as an associate member, by virtue of their ongoing work in the Schonstedt Humanitarian Demining Initiative (SHDI).

Combat Engineer and Scholarship winner Kurt Rardin

Each year, through the National Society of Professional Surveyors Foundation, thousands of dollars in scholarships funded by a variety of individuals, companies, and organizations are made available to encourage and support college education in geospatial sciences. The Schonstedt Scholarships in Surveying, in the amount of $1500, are awarded this year to:

Seth Weckman, Ely, Minnesota
Kurt Rardin, Deatsville, Alabama

In a letter to Schonstedt, Kurt Wardin writes: "I am no stranger to metal detectors, but in my world we called them Mine Detectors. I served 6 years in the US Marines as a Combat Engineer..."

Read all of Kurt's letter to Schonstedt here

US Ambassador James Warlick (left) on the spot near the Chelopechene ammo depot blast. Photo by BGNES

News article courtesy of Sofia News Agency:

US Announces End of Blasted Bulgarian Ammo Depot Clean-up Bulgaria

US Ambassador to Bulgaria James Warlick has announced the successful clean-up completed with US funding of the Chelopechene munitions depot near Bulgaria's Sofia which exploded in July 2008.

Warlick, alongside Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Defense Valentin Radev, announced the successful conclusion of a massive .18 million effort funded by the United States to clean up unexploded ordnance (UXO) that infested the grounds and nearby water areas for several kilometers around the Chelopechene munitions depot following a 2008 explosion, the US Embassy in Sofia announced Wednesday in a statement.

The land the US helped to clean and the waters of the adjoining nature preserve, river, ponds, and reservoir are now restored to their original condition, the Embassy said.

Ambassador Warlick and Deputy Minister Radev toured the site on July 25, 2012, with the director of the Slovenian non-governmental organization ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF), Dorijan Marsic, and the president of Sterling International, William Wade, the American company which was sub-contracted to complete the sub surface clearance work.

Our GA-92XT in the American Museum of Natural History, NYC

The American Museum of Natural History, New York, (www.amnh.org) has honored Schonstedt Instrument Company by including a GA-92XT magnetic locator in "Beyond Planet Earth - The Future of Space Exploration". The special Exhibition, which runs from November 2011 to August 2012, “transports visitors to the Moon, Mars, and beyond as it boldly explores humanity's next steps in space.”

In this scene, an astronaut studies the Martian geology, using tools that can detect minerals beneath the surface. Tools like the Schonstedt let scientists see through solid rock and identify underground minerals.

The Exhibition will travel next to Israel and then, who knows, maybe To Infinity and Beyond!

»Download article here.

United Nations Mine Action Service

This video tells the story of an innovative humanitarian demining partnership involving the United Nations Mine Action Service, Schonstedt Instrument Company, the US Department of State and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) who have raised funds for donating magnetic locators to mine action programmes around the world.

Produced by Richard Krantz pilotpro@verizon.net