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Columbiana company honored for its longevity and excellence

COLUMBIANA — In order to recognize Ohio’s long-term strength in the national economy, Secretary of State Frank LaRose has chosen to highlight six companies in January that have been in business for at least 100 years.

So for a company that just celebrated its 125th year anniversary last year, Columbiana Boiler, LLC was the perfect fit for the award.

Started in 1894, Columbiana Boiler began as a boiler manufacturer until creating its last boiler in 1922. In order to stay viable, Columbiana Boiler has differentiated its product, but has kept the original name. It is one of the oldest American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) shops in the country that is still operational.

The history is what makes Columbiana Boiler so special, and vice president and general manager Michael Koprivnak believes the award isn’t just for the current regime.

“To me, it’s not an award for myself or the current people working here,” Koprivnak said. “It’s something to celebrate the four generations of employees we’ve had that are the backbone of this company.”

For a business to be around for over 125 years it needs to have a great product and strong working environment.

Since changing its product line, the company is in a niche market, building DOT containers for transportation of hazardous chemicals, products for the U.S. Air Force and kettles for the hot dip galvanizing industry. Because of the tough barrier to entry with special permits, Columbiana Boiler is the only manufacturer for those products.

“The Barrow family, who originally started the company, had a very good knack and vision of keeping the business alive and wanting it to grow,” Koprivnak said. “It’s the family commitment and it’s been operated like a family for 125 years.”

Koprivnak’s vetting process when he was hired took four months to make sure they were hiring someone with the right ideals who would follow along with the philosophy to help grow the company. He said that the company is a family, as all 36 employees know each other’s birthday and kids’ names.

Despite living in Trumbull County, Koprivnak loves the city of Columbiana and has thought about moving there because of the support of businesses from the community.

After receiving a brief tour of the facilities from Koprivnak, Eastern Ohio regional liaison Alex Pavloff awarded Columbiana Boiler as one of Ohio’s Spotlights for the month.

slendak@mojonews.com

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