At the helm of Standard Tinsmith and Roofer Supply for 50 years, Joel Fishkind now prepares his century-old family sheet metal business for a fourth act.
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.
There are any number of good reasons NOT to upgrade your sheet metal machinery: timing, cost, confusion … cost. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” should never be one of them — especially after reading this issue of SNIPS.
During the annual AHR Expo last month, you could clearly see why its reputation as 'The Big Show' for HVACR contractors is well-deserved. But while wandering the massive rows of sheet metal machinery and HVACR systems, I couldn't help but think small.
We have been complaining for years that we can’t get good quality young people into our industry. But now, we are putting together a project that I think will effectively reach hundreds, if not thousands, of potential young people looking for new opportunities.
Here, jam-packed in the pages of SNIPS, were all the nuts and bolts you needed to get your sheet metal shop operations off the ground. It was legendary!
At the start of this year, the Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA) predicted this would be the year when the concept of the “durable home” will become reality.
Most contractors find themselves operating in two work modes: Get work. Do work. As the economy stands now, many shops are in the do work phase. But, the problem is, neither mode allows time for an improve work phase.