New Ownership For USA Commercial Heat Treater
(Editors Note; Earlier this year we had this news item about Ohio commercial heat treater P&L Heat Treating & Grinding being sold to the original founder of the company, we now have further details about the transaction; “What Is Going on at One of North America’s Largest Commercial Heat Treaters?”)“YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A local partnership’s purchase of P&L Heat Treating & Grinding will put the company back under the control of its founder. Voltage Valley Capital Partners, which was co-founded by Tim Petrey, Bobby Stackhouse and Tim Carney, acquired P&L in September, according to a news release. Last week, the local venture capital group announced that Bill Pociask, who founded the industrial heat-treating company in 1978, would return as president.
“I’m excited to step back into the president role and continue building on P&L’s 47-year legacy of excellence,” Pociask said in the release.
“He’s always loved the business. He’s always been passionate about it. This was his baby, and he was excited about the opportunity to get back involved,” Petrey, who also is CEO of HD Growth Partners and founder of White Glove Payroll, said during a phone interview. “He loves his team members, his clients, his customers, and he’s still healthy enough to be an active participant in the business.”
Founded in a 2,400-square-foot facility with two employees and four heat-treating furnaces, P&L now operates from a 32,000-square-foot facility in downtown Youngstown, with 20 employees and 24 heat-treating furnaces, according to the news release. It provides a broad range of industrial and commercial heat treatment services, specializing in nitriding, vacuum heat treating, forming dies and quick turnaround solutions for steel and tool steels, serving diverse industries including automotive, mining and tool and die manufacturing.
Petrey did not disclose the purchase price. The company had been acquired in 2018 by Thermal Process Holding Inc., and Pociask stayed on for a time under its ownership as general manager.
“It’s a great business. It’s been around for many years in the community,” Petrey said.
Petrey’s partners also praised the transaction in the release.
“This transaction perfectly aligns with our investment thesis of supporting established businesses in the Mahoning Valley that serve critical roles in the manufacturing ecosystem,” Carney said.
“We’re thrilled to bring P&L back under local ownership and partner with Bill, who built this company into the industry leader it is today,” Stackhouse said.
The P&L purchase represents Voltage Valley Capital Partners’ third investment in the Mahoning Valley, the news release reported. The venture capital group focuses on investing in local businesses that don’t have a succession plan or need the group’s expertise in areas such as operations, finances or marketing, “the things that we’re bringing to the equation to be able to ensure that business can live beyond the founder one day,” Petrey said.
The intention is to ensure that P&L provides the highest level of service to its customers and that the right people are on the team “to make sure that the business has a long future ahead of it,” he added. “We would love to eventually be able to expand. We would love to eventually be able to create new jobs. That’s something that we’re certainly excited about in the future.”
