James D. “Jim” Folcarelli, 84, plans to retire near the first of April upon the sale of Folcarelli Sheet Metal Fabrication Inc.

The family business was founded by his parents Jim and Bess Folcarelli in the basement of their Altoona home in 1951.

Folcarelli has worked full time for the business since 1962.

Folcarelli graduated from Altoona High School in 1959. After graduation, he attended a trade school in Pittsburgh taking classes in heating, refrigeration and air conditioning. Upon returning home from trade school, he was employed by an Altoona-based company called Coleman and Rodland Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration as a design trainee. He also attended night school business classes at Penn State Altoona.

Longtime business owner Jim Folcarelli is pictured in his Altoona home. Folcarelli guided his family business, Folcarelli Sheet Metal Fabrication Inc., through many changes during his 65 years of work. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

As their business grew, they purchased a building at 96 Logan Blvd. and then the present location at 4141 Sixth Ave., now owned by APR Supply.

Folcarelli and his parents’ business started as a contractor replacing coal furnaces with gas furnaces, along with roofing and spouting installation.

As the economy began changing, Folcarelli decided to move from contracting to retail sales. So in 1982, he terminated the contracting business and opened a retail hardware store in a portion of the 4141 Sixth Ave. building.

He then pursued his future goal to move from retail sales to wholesale distribution of heating and air conditioning equipment and related products. By doing this, he hoped to convince the HVAC and plumbing contractors that he would no longer be competing with them.

To insure his intention, Jim was able to obtain a distributorship of one of the top heating and air conditioning product lines only sold to wholesale distributors,

After that, additional manufacturers that sold only to wholesalers came knocking at his door. The name was then changed to Folcarelli Supply Company.

Soon after, branch locations were established in Johnstown, State College and Williamsport.

In 1997, due to an increase in home building, his operation manager Ralph Wallace and Jim’s son Michael thought they should add high-end bath and shower products to the contractor base and their customers. The addition of two showrooms were added, one in Altoona and another in State College.

These showrooms were marketed under the name of Il Bel Gabinetto — The Beautiful Bath Room.

Folcarelli attributes his business success to family members and the many employees over the years.

In turn, Folcarelli is well-respected by others in the business.

Larry McAleer, who recently retired from McAleer’s Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, has known Folcarelli for more than 50 years.

“Jim is a very loyal friend. He would do anything to help his friends and customers. Jim was a great wholesaler in plumbing and heating. In many different communities, many homes and businesses have equipment supplied by Jim,” McAleer said. “Jim has been a great mentor to me and a lifelong friend.”

Bob Kelly of the Schultz Company has known Folcarelli for 40 years.

“I started my HVAC career directly out of high school with Folcarelli Supply. Although I moved on to work for and am now one of the owners of Schultz Company, I have completed numerous projects over the years with Jim. Jim has always been a trusted businessman and one of the most knowledgeable in the HVAC industry,” Kelly said.

Folcarelli played a key role in Randy Beers’ entrance into the HVAC industry.

“I have been working with Jim Folcarelli since 2020 when I decided to get into this HVAC industry. Mr. Folcarelli was very instrumental in helping me understand how to design HVAC systems. Jim and I always had a special bond. We have always had a great working relationship and friendship,” said Beers, who recently purchased McAleer’s business.

He said he talked to Folcarelli before making that purchase, adding that he learned a lot from Folcarelli and McAleer.

“The one thing I took from meeting with them, was that when you’re in business, you do the best possible job and treat people as you want to be treated. He cared about his customers, employees, and most of all, his family,” Beers said. “When you build a successful business, I do believe that it does not happen by chance, it happens by choice through hard work, determination and long days. That just goes to show the commitment that Jim had.”

Folcarelli Supply was sold to APR Supply of Lebanon in 2012.

“The offer was good, it just came up. I was 72, it was time to go out. I stayed with the sheet metal and fabrication business. We provided sheet metal fabrication to their customers,” said Folcarelli, who was longtime company president.

He said Folcarelli Sheet Metal Fabrication Inc. is in the process of being sold.

“I will help the new people as much as I possibly can. I have no specific plans for retirement, we (he and wife Linda) just want to take care of our health and live as long as we can. It was not a difficult decision, it was time,” Folcarelli said.

Folcarelli is proud of how the company grew over the years, from four employees when it started to about 50 when he sold the business.

“The biggest change,” Folcarelli said, “was going from a simple business in the basement of our home to a wholesale distributor of major HVAC and plumbing products in central Pennsylvania.”

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.

The Folcarelli file

Name: James D. “Jim” Folcarelli

Age: 84

Position: Retiring from Folcarelli Sheet Metal Fabrication Inc.

Education: 1959 graduate of Altoona High School; associate’s degree in business from Penn State Altoona in 1964. Studied heating and air conditioning at Gateway Tech in Pittsburgh

Family: Wife, Linda

Quote: “We grew from a small family operation to how we ended up, it was night and day. I remember we were installing coal furnaces when I started.”