Frank’s Marble & Granite LLC, Red Lion, Pa.
To help maintain that business, Pantano says he’s an active member of local builder and remodeler groups, and Frank’s also has something that a lot of its competitors can’t offer – almost 40 years and two generations of experience.
“It helps that we’re a family business and we’ve been here so long,” he says. “We have a good reputation and people know us. We have a lot of loyal people that we work with that have continued to use us. Even though they might not individually be busy, collectively they are, and it’s keeping us busy.”
The same carries over to those walk-in customers. Pantano says he has days where every single customer says all their friends recommended Frank’s.
“We’ve been here so long that people who used my dad years ago are now buying new homes or remodeling and we’re doing that work,” he says. “And, we’re doing their kids’ homes. The whole family is using us. We’ve really never needed to do a lot of advertising.”
Still, Frank’s has seen some impact from the economy. The younger Pantano estimates the company currently averages about eight kitchens a week, down slightly from even a couple years ago, but enough to keep the eight-person production crew –including three installers and a templater – busy.
It’s also been enough to keep Carmine Pantano all over the shop, a situation he hopes will ease some with the addition of the new Northwood CNC. Until it went in, he says 14- and 16-hour days were his norm.
Frank’s even installed three high-tech cameras in the shop so he can watch the CNC from his office.
“That way, I can still do my paperwork but send the guys home,” he explains. “I’m not that far enough away from the shop, but I’m still far enough away that I can’t see or hear anything if something goes wrong. Now, I just look up at the TV screen to make sure nothing’s happened.”
While the OMAG CNC still gets some use, Pantano adds that the speed of the new machine definitely cut down on his work days.
“It’s really picked up the pace for us,” he says. “As long as everyone shows up to work, everything goes pretty smoothly. With the new machinery, I’m usually going home by five or six o’clock.”
That’s pretty heady stuff for a man who admits to not taking a vacation since 1998, and whose next goal is to turn over more control of the shop to his employees.