News
Vellano Bros. Inc. continues southern expansion in AL
09/26/2007
LATHAM, N.Y. -- Vellano Bros., Inc., one of the largest waterworks supply houses in the northeast, will continue its southern expansion with the opening of a new outlet in the Mobile, Ala. area, its third branch in that state and its 15th branch overall. The new facility will have its grand opening later this month at its 26111 U.S. Highway 90 location in Robertsdale, Ala.
“Alabama is poised to experience an enormous amount of economic growth in the future, and we want to get aboard and supply quality equipment to help facilitate that growth,” said Mike Vellano, the company’s regional manager. The recent announcement that ThyssenKrupp has selected Mobile, Alabama as a site of their $3.7 billion steel plant serves as testimony to the potential that Alabama has for continued growth. Additional growth could come in the form of an Airbus manufacturing facility in the near future as well. Vellano Bros., a Latham, N.Y.-based family owned and operated company for over 60 years, has built a reputation for being a one-stop, full-service shop that can meet any customer’s need.
Vellano Brothers operates a total of 15 branches in New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire. The company recently established two other branches in Alabama - in Lincoln and Montgomery. The branches provide customers with the same type of timely access to a wide range of products that one would expect from a much larger operation while allowing it to maintain strong personal relationships with its customers. The company takes pride in the consistency of its competitive pricing and top-quality service while being a full-service shop that can meet any customer need. Whether outfitting contractors with large supply orders or providing customers with the extras needed on a day-to-day basis, Vellano Bros., Inc., is dedicated to providing an excellence in service, expertise, inventory and overall professionalism. Vellano Bros., Inc. sells a variety of waterworks supplies. Its water stock includes ductile iron pipe, mechanical joint fittings, flange pipe and fittings, PVC pipe and fittings, fire hydrants, valves, tapping sleeves and tapping valves, valve boxes and curb boxes, brass service valves and fittings, copper tubing, water meters, hot boxes, couplings, saddles and more. Its sewer and drainage products include corrugated pipe and fittings, retention and detention systems, PVC sewer pipe fittings, soil pipe and fittings, sewer and storm water chambers, reinforced concrete pipe, manhole and catch basin castings, test plugs and equipment, clay pipe and fittings, and more. Miscellaneous products and services include geotextiles for drainage and stabilization, fabric and erosion control blankets, pipe locators, safety equipment, marking paint and warming tape, pipe insulation, restraint materials and utility services.
Many of the company’s branch locations also stock material for A.J. Vel., Ltd., a subsidiary of Vellano Bros., which carries a comprehensive line of small equipment, trench boxes, shields and parts for use by contractors. Most equipment is also available for rent on a daily, weekly or monthly basis
Drainage Supply Company Expects Katrina To Be Good For Business
09/16/2005, The Business Review, by: Joel Stashenko
With flood waters only now starting to recede in the Gulf States, a company that specializes in underground sewer, water, industrial and drainage systems figures to see more business flowing its way because of Hurricane Katrina.
By opening a new branch less than two months ago in Montgomery, Ala., Vellano Bros. Inc. of Latham is that much closer to the region swamped by the hurricane.
"We're really going to take off when they decide the rebuilding plans and how they are going to restructure where places are going to be," said Vellano Bros. president, Joseph Vellano.
The flooding in New Orleans has prompted a debate about how to rebuild the below-sea-level city and whether to limit development in the area's most flood-prone precincts.
Whatever the rebuilding plans, customers will almost certainly pay more for any plastic piping related to drainage systems, with Hurricane Katrina a factor. Vellano said the price of PVC piping has doubled in the past week in the wake of the oil price rise that was aggravated by supply and production interruptions caused by Katrina. The piping is made of resins produced from oil.
Southern outposts
The Montgomery office is the Vellano Bros.' second in Alabama and 13th in the country. The company, started by Vellano's grandfather in the 1920s and incorporated by his father and uncle in 1966, also has branches in New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Since branching out into New England in the late 1990s, Vellano Bros. has seen steady growth. Sales have increased from $44 million in 2000 to $57 million last year and the company's nationwide work force has grown by about 40 percent, to 110 workers.
Vellano said Alabama was a logical area of expansion for his company even before the hurricane because of the widescale development in the region. New Hyundai, Honda and DaimlerChrysler plants have opened or are being built in the Montgomery area. Those plants and related business and residential development have created plenty of demand for Vellano Bros.' products.
"I tell young people to go south or west," Vellano said. "There is no future for young people in New York, particularly upstate."
Vellano Bros. is also one of the largest national suppliers of fire hydrants and manhole covers, two other products that could be in demand as municipal areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina are rebuilt.
Looming 'disaster'
Vellano said there is another kind of natural disaster looming in the Capital Region and in other older municipalities throughout the Northeast. Water and sewage systems are in some cases more than 100 years old and have often been ignored unless water mains burst or sewer lines back up, he said.
Wooden or clay piping still carry water in some municipal water systems.
"There will be little New Orleans all over upstate New York at some point," Vellano said. "It might be 10 or 15 years from now. It was the same thing with the infrastructure of New Orleans. The politicians didn't respond. I can predict the same thing with all these sewer collapses. The design life has expired. No money is being put into them and there is no political will to do so."
Politicians would rather cut a ribbon on a Pepsi Arena or other high-profile project than to sink $2 million into water or sewer repairs that no one can see, Vellano said.
The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that New York state's drinking water infrastructure will need $13.15 billion in improvements over the next 20 years. The state's wastewater system has $20.42 billion in infrastructure needs, the society estimates.
jstashenko@bizjournals.com | 518-640-6808
© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.
Vellano Bros., Inc. Opens Two New Stores, Marks First Southern Expansion
06/07/2004, Press Release, by: Brendan Mcgarry
Vellano Bros., Inc. Opens Two New Stores, Marks First Southern Expansion
Monday, June 7, 2004 a.m. noon ET
Vellano Bros., Inc. Opens Stores in Alabama, Rhode Island
LATHAM, N.Y. – June 7, 2004 – Vellano Bros., Inc., a growing fourth-generation family-owned waterworks industry supply leader in New York and New England, has opened two new branch locations this year, one near Providence, R.I. and another in Anniston, Ala., marking the company’s first expansion into mid-southern markets.
A 1.4-acre site in Cranston, R.I., located about five miles southwest of Providence, will hold a grand opening and open house on Thursday. Vincent A. Curatola, the famed actor who plays “Johnny ‘Sack’ Sacromoni on HBO’s critically-acclaimed The Sopranos, will be on hand for the festivities. Autographed pictures will be available from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The grand opening of an expansive 40-acre site in Anniston, Ala. – now the largest site in the company – was held in late March, and was a huge success, attracting more than 100 customers, contractors and municipal employees.
The new Vellano Bros. branch locations will give area residents timely access to a comprehensive supply of pipe equipment and supplies for underground water, sewer, drainline and industrial systems. The new branch locations in Rhode Island and Alabama will bring the company’s total to 12.
“The new locations are niched between two major expanding markets,” said Joe Vellano, CEO and president of Vellano Bros., Inc. “We’re attracted to growth in areas where manufacturing is expanding.”
The new Vellano Bros. branch in Rhode Island is located at 999 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, R.I. 02920, about five miles southwest of Providence, which boasts a strong regional economy. It’s the company’s 12th branch. The branch in Alabama, the company’s 11th, is located at 1800 Greenbrier Deer Road, Anniston, A.L. 36207, just south of Jacksonville. The state is home to a growing number of automobile manufacturing plants and Vellano Bros., Inc. hopes to enjoy robust year-round business there.
“We’re going to do business the way Vellano always has: Consistent and steady with competitive pricing and top-quality service,” said Joe Vymslicky, branch manager.
Vellano Bros., Inc. employs more than 100 dedicated, hard-working individuals at 12 branch locations. Throughout its 50-year history, the company has built a reputation for being a one-stop full-service shop that can meet any customer need. Whether outfitting contractors with large supply orders or providing customers with the extras needed on a day-to-day basis, Vellano Bros., Inc. is dedicated to providing an excellence in service, expertise, inventory and overall professionalism.
Stock
Water stock includes ductile iron pipe, mechanical joint fittings, flange pipe and fittings, PVC pipe and fittings, fire hydrants, valves, tapping sleeves and tapping valves, valve boxes and curb boxes, brass service valves and fittings, copper tubing, water meters, hot boxes, couplings, saddles and more. Sewer and drainage stock includes
Sewer and drainage stock includes corrugated pipe and fittings, retention and detention systems, PVC sewer pipe and fittings, soil pipe and fittings, sewer and storm water chambers, reinforced concrete pipe, manhole and catch basin castings, test plugs and equipment, clay pipe and fittings, and more.
Miscellaneous products and services include geotextile for drainage and stabilization, fabric and erosion control blankets, pipe locators, safety equipment, marketing paint and warning tape, pipe insulation, restraint materials and utility services. Many of the 12 branch locations stock material for A.J. Vel., Ltd., a subsidiary of Vellano Bros., which carries a comprehensive line of small equipment, trench boxes, shields and parts for use by a contractor. Most equipment is available for rent on daily, weekly or monthly basis.
Contact:
Rhode Island: Bill Percival, branch manager, or Ken DiFonzo, sales representative, at (401) 228-8947 (phone), or (401) 228-8949 (fax), or visit www.vellano.com.
Alabama: Joe Vymslicky, branch manager, or Don Knight, sales manager, at (256) 835-5005 (phone), or (256) 832-5007, or visit www.vellano.com.