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Commercial Metal Forming survives with its people
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
Commercial Metal Forming has been in business for 97 years.
It’s gone through multiple ownerships and transformations through those years, but one factor has stayed constant: the importance of the people behind the company.
“It’s really simple. Everyone has the same responsibility and that’s to help everyone they touch be successful,” said Bob Messaros, president of the Logan Avenue company.
Commercial Metal Forming makes tank heads and tank-head accessories, and it has done so since the 1960s. A tank head is what goes on top of say a propane tank. It’s purpose is to protect the contents of the tank.
“The funny thing is that tanks are about everywhere,” Messaros said.
Commercial’s tank heads are made for 30 different markets and reach customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America and the Middle East.
The company can manufacture tank heads from 4 inches in diameter to 300 inches.
To do all of this, Commercial has three locations – Youngstown, Saginaw, Texas, and Orange County, Calif. Companywide, there are 151 employees, with 85 of them based in Youngstown.
Having three facilities gives Commercial a national footprint its competitors don’t have.
“It allows us to serve the entire network in the U.S.,” Messaros said.
The Youngstown plant makes 65 percent of all the tank heads the company produces.
“Energy is a large component of what we do,” Messaros.
So, the downturn in the energy market starting in mid-2014 did have an impact on the company, but Messaros is hopeful there will be a boost in the industry this year.
Way before tank heads were stamped out of big sheets and coils of steel, the company, which was previously known as Commercial Intertech, was involved in commercial shearing. From there, it evolved to bridge building and then manufacturing of liner plates that went inside of a tunnel.
The product line didn’t stop there, however. Commercial got into making dump-truck bodies then cylinder operations and eventually came to manufacture gear pumps, which is how the company got into hydraulics.
Thereafter, the company started making containment vessels and that evolved into tank heads.
The company was owned by the Cushwa family until it was sold in 2000 to Parker Hannifin.
One year later, the company was sold again and then a few years later it was sold again. In 2016, Commercial’s parent company, Constellation Enterprises, filed for bankruptcy and its companies, including Commercial, were put up for sale. But there wasn’t much concern on the Commercial end. The company was profitable, so everyone kept on working.
“I think it’s a compliment to our people that they focused on the things we can control,” Messaros said.
In November, CE Star Holdings LLC, a company formed by Constellation’s secured note holders, purchased Commercial and two other Constellation companies for $108 million.
Also during that month, members of United Steel Workers Local 2332-1 based at Commercial’s Youngstown plant ratified a new five-year contract that included wage increases for the 70 members.
“Even in bankruptcy we were still able to negotiate wage increases because we were still profitable,” said Jose Arroyo, business representative for the USW. “We [the company and the local] are always focusing on how do we get this place another 20 years [in business].”
Arroyo actually called Commercial his home for 19 years.
“When you go down to Commercial Metal Forming, every person has tenure,” Arroyo said. “It’s a good-paying job. You don’t have high turnover there. People at Commercial are invested in Commercial, and that’s important because they understand that their livelihoods are connected to the company and the local.”
During the bankruptcy, the company launched a new innovation model.
“Everyone thinks innovation is a manufacturing thing,” Messaros said. “In our company, innovation is a people thing.”
Commercial has created a process to find out what its employees strengths are and work to develop those.
“It’s a customized approach,” Messaros said. “It’s about your growth. That’s really, really important because it’s important to the organization.
Messaros came to Commercial seven years ago and he came on a gut feeling he could center the company around one person. That one person is Mike Conglose, vice president of operations.
Conglose came to Commercial in 1994. He came from a large company and was happy to work in a smaller company where he could have a bigger role.
“Our people have a sense of ownership,” Conglose said. “People are committed. It’s an emotional commitment. We are a very unique organization. We are survivors.”
Tom DePinto, vice president of sales for Commercial, started out on the production side, but then he decided he wanted to better the company and himself, so he went to school and received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Youngstown State University.
“I am truly blessed,” he said. “You have the opportunities to promote from within. It’s unbelievable to have that let alone see the successes you can build together.”
Commercial is focused on finding talent locally and works with YSU to do so. Recently, the company hired five YSU graduates in the last three years and provided internships to three YSU students.
“What we have done for Youngstown is we have created a stable business model for people to be employed by,” Messaros said. “That point is it’s not about a GPA [grade point average]. It’s about how well-rounded a person is.”