Rome's Revere Copper touts 200 years of history

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Jan 25, 2002 by Fitting, Beth

ROME - From "The British are coming, the British are coming" to the only company in the world that in the mid-1990s was able to provide a copper roof for the new British Parliament, Revere Copper Products, Inc. has come a long way. American patriot and silversmith Paul Revere, who founded the company in 1801, would never have dreamed of the Revere company of today.

In one million square feet of manufacturing space, 500 employee/owners produce more than 200 million pounds of the metals per year. With its headquarters in Rome, the company is a rolling mill for copper and copper alloys. The Rome facility also houses a melting operation and bar and extrusions departments.

Donald M. Commerford Jr., senior Ice president, explains that Revere uses recycled materials, as well as "cakes" (similar to iron ingots) that come from copper mines. The cakes are cast, that is, processed through the rolling mill, says Commerford, to thicknesses from oneand-a-half inches to the thickness of aluminum foil.

In Central New York, Carrier Corporation's Transicold Division is a major customer, using Revere's copper in its heat exchangers and airconditioning units for ocean-going vessels and public transit vehicles. Oneida Ltd., says Commerford, buys zinc and copper blanks, which it then stamps into flatware that is then silverplated. Other consumer products which contain Revere's copper are doorknobs for companies such as Schlage, transformers for such companies as ABB, and powerstation switch gears for GE. He says, "If you go into an upscale hotel's elevator and look down, you'll see copper thresholds." Revere supplies the copper for such companies as Dover and Otis. He adds that Revere copper is also found in coaxial cables and electric terminals and connectors for the auto industry.

Another industry sector in which Revere is "probably the market leader in the U.S." is architectural copper for roofs, says Commerford. "It's unique," he says. It is produced both in sheets and for copper shingles.

Among new products are the company's EverGreen, a pre-patinated copper (copper to which a verdigris or green finish has been applied before shipping), and LeadTex, a lead-coated gray-colored copper. These coppers are used in roofing. Revere's newest product, called FreedomGray, is tin- and zinc-coated copper.

The company also has a factory in New Bedford, Mass., but most of the architectural copper, says Commerford, is manufactured in Rome.

Not only does the company carry the Paul Revere Dame, but also, until six years ago, when Paul Revere Jr., a product manager at the New Bedford facility, retired, five generations of direct descendants of Paul Revere continuously worked for Revere Copper. The son of the last Paul Revere to work at the company, Paul Revere IV, a Boston attorney, maintains the family's ties with the company, occasionally providing legal counsel for Revere Copper Products on environmental matters.

The United States of America was only 26 years old when silversmith, bellmaker, and Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere, at the age of 65, opened his copper-rolling facility in Canton, Mass., the first of its kind in the Western hemisphere. Initially, the company provided copper for sheathing the wooden hulls of ships, such as the U.S.S. Constitution - "Old Ironsides." In time, Revere began producing copper to roof churches, make beer vats, and build boilers for inventor Robert Fulton's steamboats.

Modern-day Revere Copper Products, with its headquarters in Rome, came about as the result of a merger in the late 1920s of six copper and brass manufacturing companies from across the country, including the company founded by Paul Revere. Originally incorporated as the General Brass Corporation, the name was changed within a year to Revere Copper and Brass Incorporated.

About 80 percent of Revere's copper products are derived from recycled materials, and only 20 percent come from copper mines. In addition, the company was honored with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's 2000 Operations and Maintenance Award for its industrial wastewater treatment facility, which recently went through a multiphased $500,000 upgrade.

Commerford says that the company "is in good shape financially. It has experienced the recession, but we're optimistic that it has bottomed out." Bookings in the new year, says Commerford, have "much improved. Customers' inventories seem to have corrected themselves and you could say that we're cautiously optimistic. We think this year will be the reverse of last year."

Brian O'Shaughnessy, president and chief executive officer of Revere Copper Products, in a recent release, said that the future for success of the company "is unlimited. He noted that many of the current applications for copper didn't even exist years ago. "Because of the unique properties of copper - its conductivity, corrosion resistance, strength, and appearance - the potential for new products is boundless. As we've seen through the years, new industries and technologies develop that require high-quality copper products and components. While we have been innovators in meeting those needs, we're never quite sure from which direction new opportunities may arise."