Supplier for contractors builds on what they need

A North Lima company expects to double sales and employment.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
NORTH LIMA -- Dennis Holisky has made his living by knowing what builders need.
His first company, HV Contractors, erects wooden frames for builders putting up homes. He started that company with his wife, Pam Volosin, 10 years ago.
Seven years ago, he created Custom Prefab Contractors, which builds wall panels at a shop at 11413 South Ave. The walls are then pieced together at job sites for new homes, garages, hotels and restaurants.
His next step in serving builders is to make trusses, the wooden frames that support a roof.
CPC is installing truss-making equipment that it bought from a closed plant in South Carolina, and Holisky expects to begin production next week. The company is spending about $250,000 to turn a storage building into a production center.
New partner
Key to the company's expansion is Holisky's taking on Travis Trummer as a partner.
Trummer and two family members operated Direct Truss, a truss-making company in Washingtonville, from 1993 to 1999, when they sold the business. Trummer said the sale agreement included a clause that prevented him from competing with his former company until this year.
Holisky, 39, welcomed Trummer, 34, to his company because of his experience in making trusses. The two also were friends growing up in Leetonia.
With the addition of trusses, CPC should have sales of $3.5 million next year, Trummer said. The company's best year so far was $1.5 million in sales, Holisky said.
Trummer said CPC's employment should double to 24 by next summer.
Industry contacts
The owners expect success because of the contacts CPC has in the building industry. Holisky said orders for trusses already are rolling in because contractors are digging at a furious pace this month to make up for time lost to rain this summer.
He said trusses and walls are a natural combination because contractors, especially on large jobs, would rather deal with a smaller number of subcontractors.
Trummer said CPC has worked hard to keep overhead down so it intends to be aggressive when setting prices for trusses. They will be competing against several other local companies that make trusses.
The number of trusses in a house can vary from as few as 20 for a smaller ranch home to more than 200 for a large home with a varied roof pattern.
Wall panels
Holisky said the wall panel business is going well for CPC. More builders are opting for panels instead of erecting walls on site because of the difficulty in finding skilled workers and the efficiency of the in-shop construction, he said. CPC has reduced its scrap to less than 1 percent of wood used, he said.
Large projects, such as hotels, almost always use wall panels, he said. CPC has provided panels for Das Dutch Village Inn in Columbiana, the former Don Pablo's restaurant in Boardman and commercial projects as far away as Columbus, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
A wall panels consists of a section of wall with studs and exterior sheeting. Electrical wiring and drywall is completed after the panels are put together at the job site.
Holisky said his other company, HV Contractors, has three framing crews with four people each.
shilling@vindy.com