PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Jeff Betten
Owner/Operator, Hellbender Vinyl

Jeff Betten’s Hellbender Vinyl company delivered its first vinyl record to a client in January 2023.

Since then, the Upper Lawrenceville company has pressed more than 100,000 records and opened a satellite processing location in North Philadelphia. That’s an impressive achievement for a small company that seized the opportunity to ride the wave of vinyl’s recent revival.

It’s the only such company in Western Pennsylvania; the next closest processing plant is in Cleveland. Betten opened Hellbender Vinyl after a childhood full of music; he played all sorts of brass instruments and then took up guitar, playing in a few bands. He later managed several record labels, including the local Misra.

During the height of the pandemic, he was an adviser to then-Mayor Bill Peduto as part of a small public-private committee to help guide the safe reopening of music venues around town.

He continues to advise fellow musicians on ways to further their careers.