How Bill Bradford became a legend at Ductmate Industries Inc.
Bill Bradford’s sheet metal career is the embodiment of the phrase “standing on the shoulders of giants.” Only, in this story, Bradford is one of the giants.
BILL BRADFORD IS A VETERAN OF THE SHEET METAL INDUSTRY IN MORE WAYS THAN MOST. Born and raised in North Side Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the city’s “Steel City” renaissance, Bradford graduated from high school June 1955 and immediately joined the Air Force that July. “I was 17 so my parents had to sign documents to get me in,” he remembers. His dad, a truck driver, was gone on the road a lot while his mom worked different jobs to make ends meet. “Upbringing was normal in that we did not have a lot but did not want for anything,” he says, the oldest of two brothers and two sisters. The service was his chance to fight for his country while learning skills to build a future.
Like father like son, Bradford’s son, Bill Jr. (right), is the central regional account manager for Trimble MEP Division. Here they stand outside the William Bradford Training Center at DMI Companies in Charleroi, Pennsylvania.