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This profile was automatically generated using 2 references found on the Internet. This information has not been verified. Learn more...
This profile was automatically generated using 2 references found on the Internet. This information has not been verified. Learn more...
Web References
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1. Naples Daily News: Business
www.naplesnews.com/npdn/ma_bus - [Cached]Published on: 6/8/2005 Last Visited: 6/8/2005
Steve Camposano has built up his hurricane shutter business from a solo operation in 2000 to a business that he says now has $8 million in back orders.
...
Camposano got his solo break with Kraft Construction, which has Cape Marco high-rise condos among its building projects.
"Tom Abraham (Kraft's senior vice president) gave me an opportunity. He said, 'How about you providing shutters for the remaining Cape Marco projects?' He had known me for years," Camposano said.
The tantalizing proposition meant finding premises, the first of which Camposano rented on South Collier Boulevard from an attorney.
Soon afterward, he relocated to a 15,000-square-foot facility in Mercantile Industrial Park in Naples.
Recently he doubled that space, but to keep pace with back orders that he said now total about $8 million, he recently acquired 5 acres in White Lake Industrial Park.
Groundbreaking on the newest building should happen in October or November, Camposano said.
His interest in hurricane protection escalated in 1993 after Hurricane Andrew swept through the area the previous year.
"That marked a shift from shutters being a luxury item to a necessity," Camposano said. "There were also no real codes in place to provide structural attachments for residences."
Shortly after that, the Miami-Dade code prompted the Florida Building Code, the first statewide enactment of its kind, Camposano said.
"That created the impetus for the industry to respond," he said. "There was a shallow group of providers ... mostly mom-and-pop, which prompted me to create a company committed to the safety of life, as well as quality and innovation."
Today, there are some major companies such as Eurex, Roll-A-Way, Rolsafe and Rolladen, but Camposano likes to include his High Velocity Commercial Hurricane Protection Systems in the same league as these "big boys."
He refers to the various shutters as "Category 5."
With an eye on the future of the business in general, Camposano has already set up local avenues to train youngsters in the art of installation.
He has secured a grant from Workforce Florida Inc., as well as from the Collier County School Board and the University of Central Florida, to teach students about the manufacture and installation of hurricane protection equipment.
It is done through classroom lectures, as well as field teaching and instruction, he said.
The Lorenzo Walker Institute of Technology in Naples also has given his idea the go-ahead, Camposano said.
"It's a skilled-labor occupation," Camposano said, "and can be extremely lucrative for someone skilled and proficient. It's like a cross between rough carpentry and finished aluminum work ... attaching structural elements to a substrate, a structural wall."
Camposano, who said he developed a passion for engineering over the years, is pleased to be on a committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers, of which he is also a member.
"I'm on the aerodynamics and wind effects committee," he said. "I'm the only layman; the rest are mostly academia and practicing engineers. They appreciate my field experience."
Camposano recently attended the American Institute of Architects convention in Las Vegas, drawing plenty of interest for his proprietary products from the federal government.
He said many companies, by contrast, simply use standard hurricane protection components bought from regular suppliers.
The government, he said, paid special attention to his innovative motorized accordion shutter system. It is a world first, he said.
"It's currently testing and will be available for sale to the general public in 2006," Camposano said.
Although Camposano concentrates heavily on commercial projects, such as the Vera Cruz building at Cape Marco, he does residential jobs as well. -
2. Naples Daily News: Business
www.naplesdailynews.com/npdn/m - [Cached]Published on: 6/8/2005 Last Visited: 6/8/2005
Steve Camposano has built up his hurricane shutter business from a solo operation in 2000 to a business that he says now has $8 million in back orders.
...
Camposano got his solo break with Kraft Construction, which has Cape Marco high-rise condos among its building projects.
"Tom Abraham (Kraft's senior vice president) gave me an opportunity. He said, 'How about you providing shutters for the remaining Cape Marco projects?' He had known me for years," Camposano said.
The tantalizing proposition meant finding premises, the first of which Camposano rented on South Collier Boulevard from an attorney.
Soon afterward, he relocated to a 15,000-square-foot facility in Mercantile Industrial Park in Naples.
Recently he doubled that space, but to keep pace with back orders that he said now total about $8 million, he recently acquired 5 acres in White Lake Industrial Park.
Groundbreaking on the newest building should happen in October or November, Camposano said.
His interest in hurricane protection escalated in 1993 after Hurricane Andrew swept through the area the previous year.
"That marked a shift from shutters being a luxury item to a necessity," Camposano said. "There were also no real codes in place to provide structural attachments for residences."
Shortly after that, the Miami-Dade code prompted the Florida Building Code, the first statewide enactment of its kind, Camposano said.
"That created the impetus for the industry to respond," he said. "There was a shallow group of providers ... mostly mom-and-pop, which prompted me to create a company committed to the safety of life, as well as quality and innovation."
Today, there are some major companies such as Eurex, Roll-A-Way, Rolsafe and Rolladen, but Camposano likes to include his High Velocity Commercial Hurricane Protection Systems in the same league as these "big boys."
He refers to the various shutters as "Category 5."
With an eye on the future of the business in general, Camposano has already set up local avenues to train youngsters in the art of installation.
He has secured a grant from Workforce Florida Inc., as well as from the Collier County School Board and the University of Central Florida, to teach students about the manufacture and installation of hurricane protection equipment.
It is done through classroom lectures, as well as field teaching and instruction, he said.
The Lorenzo Walker Institute of Technology in Naples also has given his idea the go-ahead, Camposano said.
"It's a skilled-labor occupation," Camposano said, "and can be extremely lucrative for someone skilled and proficient. It's like a cross between rough carpentry and finished aluminum work ... attaching structural elements to a substrate, a structural wall."
Camposano, who said he developed a passion for engineering over the years, is pleased to be on a committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers, of which he is also a member.
"I'm on the aerodynamics and wind effects committee," he said. "I'm the only layman; the rest are mostly academia and practicing engineers. They appreciate my field experience."
Camposano recently attended the American Institute of Architects convention in Las Vegas, drawing plenty of interest for his proprietary products from the federal government.
He said many companies, by contrast, simply use standard hurricane protection components bought from regular suppliers.
The government, he said, paid special attention to his innovative motorized accordion shutter system. It is a world first, he said.
"It's currently testing and will be available for sale to the general public in 2006," Camposano said.
Although Camposano concentrates heavily on commercial projects, such as the Vera Cruz building at Cape Marco, he does residential jobs as well.
