Bolt Construction Blasts Ahead with New Expansion
BEAVER TOWNSHIP, Ohio – A $2.5 million investment and expansion stands to enhance the market footprint and capabilities of a longtime family-owned business here, its principals say.
Bolt Construction Inc., established in 1981, on Wednesday unveiled its new blasting and coating facility at its manufacturing campus at 10422 South Ave. The new equipment enables the company to perform these operations more efficiently and allows it to better serve its existing customers and attract new clients.
“It’s been a dream of my family since we opened,” said Melinda Miletta-Miller, CEO of Bolt Construction. “It just seemed to be the right time for us to do this.”
EXPANSIONS AT BOLT
It’s the second major expansion at the company over the last 10 years, she said. “We expanded in 2014 with our fabrication shop, which has basically supported our field work. This was just the next piece to help expand our business.”
The new addition brings under roof some of the critical operations of the metal fabrication and contracting company, said Todd Miller, Bolt’s president, and Miletta-Miller’s husband. “We were performing a lot of sandblasting outside with a non-recyclable material,” he said.
The new system is fully enclosed in its own, 100 square-foot booth that stands 16 feet tall and uses recyclable steel grit to descale fabricated components before they are transported to the painting and coating line.
On this day, the company is in the process of blasting steel skids that Bolt built at its fabricating operation in a building next door. These skids are used in the oil and gas industry to support pipeline networks. “We’ll pre-assemble those, pre-test those, paint them and ship them to the customer.”
Before, some of this work was subcontracted to other operations. The expansion now brings that work in house; eliminating shipping costs and markups, Miller added. “We just built are own and here we are.”
The blasting booth came online in July, Miller noted, while the painting and coating unit – the same size as the blasting booth — took slightly longer to commission.
“Welding is a very critical piece of what we do,” Miller said. “But coating now is becoming just as important because of corrosion and environmental concerns.”
Since both the blasting and coating booths are now under one roof, weather is no longer an issue, Miller said. “We can go 24 hours a day, we’re not limited by rain, snow, humidity – nothing.”
Moreover, Miller said the project has led to the creation of five additional jobs at the company. Bolt employs 65 at its local complex and at a variety of other locations.
Bolt Construction does considerable work with the oil and gas industry, as well as the aviation industry, Miletta-Miller noted.
“We work in 26 different states,” she said. “Because we do airport work, our crews tend to be here, there an everywhere.” The company employs approximately 15 as a designated shop crew, she added, and Bolt has designs on increasing that number as the new operations boost business.
Witmer Construction erected the new building, while Premier Bank provided financing for the project.
“Bolt has been a great client of ours,” said Josh Toot, Mahoning Valley market president for Premier. “Todd and Melinda do a great job, and we’re excited for their expansion. They’re going through efficiencies like every other business is right now, and I think this will make the company even better than it was.”
The company fabricates components and provides industrial construction services for the energy industry and airport fueling systems, Miletta-Miller said. This requires employees trained in such jobs as welding and other industrial skills.
BUSINESS IN GROWTH MODE
Despite a setback in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, plus a fire that destroyed one of the older buildings in 2021 at its campus, Bolt Construction continues to improve its business year over year.
“We’re busy, very busy,” Miller said. “If the labor market was a little better than it’s been, we could probably be a little better.”
During COVID, air travel plummeted, leaving many aircraft parked in airports and as a result projects were postponed or shelved, he said. “But this year, business is up 50% compared to last year. A lot of good things are happening,” he said, indicating that 2025 also looks promising.
The new expansion augments the fabrication shop that was constructed 10 years ago, Miller added.
“Our fabrication shop was strictly to support our field projects,” Miller said. “That’s evolved to a point where it’s a stand-alone company, it’s supporting itself,” he said. “We’re pulling in work from all over the place, as well as supporting the field.”
A WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS LEGACY CONTINUES
The company was founded 43 years ago as a Women’s Business Enterprise, or WBE, Miletta-Miller said. “There were several partners – all women.”
Her mother, Shirley Miletta, established the company with two of Miletta-Miller’s aunts and several great aunts, she said. Over the years, as the stock transferred between family members, the ownership failed to meet the qualifications of a WBE.
However, with Miletta-Miller’s ownership stake, Bolt Construction is today registered as a Women’s Business Enterprise. “I’m the second-generation operator, so I’m very proud of that,” she said. The ownership group today consists of herself, her mother, and two of her uncles, Jim, and Vince Bacon.
“We’ve been family owned since the company’s inception,” she said. “I became a partner in 2010. It’s just nice to carry on the legacy that my family built. It’s been wonderful to be able to work with my family over the years and my husband.”
Pictured at top: Melinda Miletta-Miller, CEO and her husband, Todd Miller, president of Bolt Construction, in Bolt’s newly installed painting and coating booth.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
