On May 10, 2000 HVCC had its graduation ceremonies where three Fronhofer Tool employees received associates degrees in machining technologies. Paul Fronhofer II, Bill Ellis, and Tim Colozza are the first graduates from the shop’s apprenticeship program (see page 2).

All three were very excited to have completed the program and felt it was a worthwhile experience.

Paul II finished second in the machinist program with a GPA of 3.9. Having a family full of machinists (his dad is Fronhofer Tools owner) did not sway him in this direction for a career. Rather it was during a semester off from college, unsure of what he wanted to do when he decided to work in the shop. Paul found he really enjoyed the work and decided to stay on. It was “tiring” working so hard but he is glad he completed the program.

Bill finished with a GPA of 3.0. He felt the program showed him how to do project planning by seeing things through from start to finish. Teamwork was something Bill also took away from the program. Machining has always interested him so he went into the BOCES program in high school and then found his current position at Fronhofer Tool.

Tim was in the HVCC program with Paul and at BOCES with Bill; so even though he is a fairly new employee, he fits in really well. Tim finished fourth in the machinist program with a GPA of 3.7. He became interested in machining while working for Reed’s Hydraulics in Gansevoort where he saw machining first hand.

All three graduates wanted to express their gratitude to Fronhofer Tool for sponsoring them at HVCC. Fronhofer Tool is excited to be able to reap the benefits of its program as the graduates begin taking on more responsibilities.

It’s hard to pick the perfect topic for the first edition of what is to become our quarterly news letter. There are so many exciting things happening with this once humble basement type machine shop.

We’re starting our newsletter in our twentieth year. Since 1980, we have grown from almost nothing (sales and facility combined) to one of the largest and most productive job shops in the entire area. So perhaps it’s appropriate at this time to give a brief description of where we’ve come from and where we are now. Future articles will tell the story of where we plan to go.

The first job this company ever did was for Reliable Racing, located in Glens Falls N.Y. They were designing a product that aided skiers in training . It was exciting but at the same time very difficult because the equipment I owned at the time was primitive to say the least. 

I made those parts on a lathe my dad had given me which was an antique when he purchased it 30 years before. The lathe was a turn of the century piece of equipment with a flat belt arrangement that ran off of a line shaft. Of course Dad and I had converted it to an electric motor but just the same, it was a challenge to make precision parts. Well, at least we were keeping our overhead low. But I quickly learned that low overhead would not enable us to generate enough money to make a living in the machine shop business. 

I borrowed some money and bought a good used lathe and milling machine. We picked up some new customers like Raloid Tool, Ball Metal Container and AMG. I hired some machinists and again, cash flow became an issue.

With a couple of employees came the added expenses of benefits and unemployment insurance and so on. I even had to pay them when we didn’t have work.

 In 1985 I faced a tough decision, would I let my two employees go and return to working alone, or, would I try something progressive to get on top of my game. After talking with my wife I decided that in all fairness to myself and my employees, we would seek financing for a new CNC machining center. We would try to grow our little company but more important, save the jobs of our employees. 

That investment improved our business. We picked up AES, a great new customer, and once again we were profitable and having fun. The stretch from there to here was much of the same type of progressive thinking and each time we made an investment, the returns justified them.

 Since 1985, we have grown in leaps and bounds. Our facility list includes eight CNC machines including one of the largest waterjets in the northeast, lathes that turn sixty inches in diameter, and mills that machine eight feet in length. Our now half acre building is equipped with heated floors and advanced material handling such as loading docks, one of which is self leveling, two new bridge cranes, one of which is already installed and the other being one of our major projects for the summer.

Our strongest asset, the dedicated talented employees now number over twenty.

We are facing many new challenges, even as I write this, but this is roughly where we came from and where we are now. The future holds even greater challenges and as a strong young company’s owner I say, bring ‘em on!  
- Paul Fronhofer