Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, is a town poised for a comeback. Twenty years ago, the western Philadelphia suburb was just another casualty of the waning manufacturing industry. A village built on a foundation of sweat and steel had rapidly transformed into a ghost town once the steel mill closed its doors. Businesses disappeared and families who had grown dependent on mill wages to survive were forced to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Today, housing developments are sprouting on the outskirts of French Creek, while new boutiques and restaurants continue to populate downtown Bridge Street. And the town’s cornerstone—a steel foundry that employed generations of area residents—is in the midst of an extreme makeover. ...

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