Katie McDevitt
HVACR Today

About four years after Sal Farina opened his Phoenix-based company Empire Metal Products, which supplies sheet metal and ductwork to HVAC contractors, he opened a new roof curb division and has grown the business to more than 60 employees.

“It’s amazing how much we do in a day,” Farina said. “We’ve been very fortunate. All the guys who show up every day work really hard. Everybody here is family. I have some guys who have worked with me 14 years. They all kind of bought into that ‘Take care of the customer’ philosophy.”

The company currently supplies sheet metal and ductwork to more than 3,000 HVAC contractors in the Valley and Farina said the new roof curb division is “really taking off.” The new 5,000 square foot roof curb facility is located just across the street from the main sheet metal facility on 2037 W. Ironwood Drive and was built in early January.

Empire Metal Products also does heavy steel fabrication, chiropractic cables, dome homes and a lot of stainless work, Farina said.“We do quite a bit of commercial work, but we are mostly turning and burning the residential stuff,” Farina said. “We’re really equipped to handle any sized job.”

To date, the biggest job the company completed was about $60,000 worth of duct work for a commercial customer. Some of Farina’s customers include Trane, Goodman, US Air Conditioning, Accutemp Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Air by Dean, Air Cold Supply, Cactus Mechanical, Hercules Industries and ECI/Parker and Sons.

“We really kind of pride ourselves on customer service,” Farina said. “They are working their butts off to get us work, so they need to have what they need when they need it.”

Farina said he never tells a customer “No” on any reasonable request.“

Word kind of gets around in this industry as to who does a good job and who doesn’t,” Farina said.

Farina got his start in the industry as a sheet metal fabricator and installer in 1993 before going to Rushmore Air Conditioning, where he met his mentor who taught him the professional and personal skills he carries with him today. And in February 2004, Farina opened Empire Metal Products in a building he never imagined he’d outgrow.

“It took about a year and a half and the rubber was just meeting the road…we were just out of room,” Farina said.

Today, Farina has about seven office employees and 50 fabricators and calls his success “a great ride.”

“We just continue to get referrals,” Farina said.

The company selects two or three new customers each week and gives them a first order at a reduced price with a request for feedback. Also, employees do their best to make sure all sheet metal orders are fulfilled within 24 hours.

Currently, everyone is so busy that Farina is looking into possibly having additional shifts for the curb and sheet metal departments. But the challenge excites him and he said he is thrilled to be keeping both his employees and customers happy.

Farina said, “Everybody here, we’re just all completely in awe of what a regular bunch of people have done.”