In partnership with WVIA, with support from Coterra Energy, we’re bringing you a look behind the scenes at some of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s most successful manufacturing operations. Join us as we get to know the companies, the unique products and the hardworking people leading the way in reestablishing NEPA as a driving force in global manufacturing.
Follow along on this 10-part series that explores NEPA @ Work.
From 2-Man Garage Operation to 200,000 Square Feet in Just 25 years
In 1999, Will Kozlansky took a chance and launched a small, garage-based chimney and venting systems manufacturing company in Scranton. He called it Olympia Chimney and Venting. For years prior, the long-time chimney sweep surveyed the landscape of commercial and residential chimney and venting products and noticed a clear void of quality. Improving product quality, and offering service providers the best available, most reliable products became Olympia’s driving force.
A streamlined approach
The idea was rather simple. Improve and innovate products that worked with the chimney technicians and not against them. Essentially, they aimed to identify both the problems and the solutions within the product prior to entering the market. Today, Olympia manufactures residential and commercial chimney and venting products from liners and vents to covers, caps and universal components. They even operate a custom shop with the motto: If you can dream it, we can do it!
According to Dawn Harris, Vice President of Vendor Strategies and Supply Chain Operations, this idea of making easier-to-handle, more efficient products for the technicians performing the work would create an overall better experience for the consumer. “Will was always thinking of how to innovate products to make it easier for the service provider to service the homeowner.”
Connecting innovation and efficiency
Soon, Olympia outgrew the garage and found available space in the iconic Penn Paper building. And it wasn’t long before the company’s unprecedented success and growth had them moving again — this time to a larger facility on Scranton’s South Side – the iconic Capitol Records building. Then in 2019, in a move designed to wrestle some control over the supply chain, Olympia acquired Copperfield Chimney Supply. At the time, Copperfield was the largest chimney and venting supplier in the country. They were also Olympia’s main competitor.
“Combining these two entities together allowed us to have the product innovation that Olympia Chimney and Venting supported and the efficiencies from a distribution aspect of Copperfield Chimney Supply,” said Harris.
It’s who we are. It’s where we were founded. We are so foundationally-rooted in Northeastern Pennsylvania. All of our workers are from here. Their families are from here. If you walk out on the manufacturing floor, there are brothers and sisters and husbands and wives. It is a big family that works here.
The Next Step
Unprecedented growth
Once Olympia had brought Copperfield under its umbrella, they would soon become one of the leading chimney venting and liner systems manufacturers in the country. Though, according to Brad Kozlansky, Olympia’s Director of Manufacturing Operations, not much has changed in the way they do business. “We still have a small company mindset, but we’re a larger company now.”
Making one more move
Now, with both manufacturing and distribution under one roof, reliability, efficiency and swift deliverability became the company’s primary focus. And of course, the old Capitol Records building on the South Side just wasn’t up to the task. Olympia needed to streamline operations with distinct warehousing and distribution lines running right alongside manufacturing. But leaving NEPA was just not an option. “The benefits of Northeastern PA, besides the landscape and the area just being a nice place to live, is that it is still an area where people generally respect manufacturing and look to manufacturing as a career,” Kozlansky said.
A brand anchored in Northeastern Pennsylvania
On June 5, 2024, Olympia Chimney and Venting held a ribbon cutting ceremony at its brand-new facility in the CenterPoint Commerce & Trade Park East in Pittston Twp. The 198,400 square foot building not only joins the company’s manufacturing and distribution operations, it also pairs with their distribution center in Reno, NV to create a supply chain foothold throughout the continental U.S. The new facility, located just minutes from all major interstates, adds a deeper level of reliability and efficiency to Olympia’s already proven distribution track record.
A Family Operation Through and Through
“Foundationally, what sets Olympia apart from anywhere else is really the culture of the company.” – Dawn Harris
Olympia Chimney and Venting employs roughly 160 people across the U.S. Of those, 140 work at the Pittston Twp. facility. Just a quick tour of the manufacturing floor reveals a unique family culture among the employees. They work closely, often assisting one another. And for all of the hard work, there’s certainly a lot of smiles. “All of us have a team mentality,” according to Harris. “It doesn’t really matter what position you hold, we’re all willing to jump in and help wherever its needed.”
Quality translates from the floor to the customer’s door
And that camaraderie on the manufacturing floor extends into their relationships with clients. “Our pride comes from getting a request from a customer for something totally unique,” says Manager and Sheet Metal Fabricator, Jonathan Bullaro. “They may have a picture or an idea in their head and ask, ‘Hey, can you build this for us?’ And we never turn down a job. We’ll give it a shot.” And if they don’t find a way, they find a solution that meets the specific needs of the customer.
It seems they’re only just getting started
Since 1999, the simple idea behind Olympia Chimney and Venting has carried this NEPA-borne company from humble beginnings to a hard-fought position as the industry’s leading manufacturer. That very idea, inspired by the technicians who work with the products day in and day out, has permeated not only the company’s mission, but all the good, hard-working people on its production lines. It fuels innovation and reliability. It exists in a smile from the forklift driver, the steady hand of the spot welder and in the million plus feet of chimney liner produced every year. It’s quality, plain and simple. And while it drives sales and distribution, inspires engineers and production crews, it’s ultimately the one consistent thing that helps Olympia achieve its overarching goal – happy and safe households across America.
Educating consumers is a primary area of concern for Olympia Chimney and Venting. Annual chimney inspections are not required in the U.S. And according to the EPA, 30% of home heating fires are the result of creosote buildup in the chimney. Olympia aims to keep customers up to date on the latest technologies, to innovate products that aid and promote chimney safety and to encourage more regular chimney inspections.
According to Olympia VP, Dawn Harris, “One of the things we’re also doing here is trying to raise awareness of just how important chimney maintenance is because there are so many housefires that could have been prevented with proper chimney maintenance whether that includes re-lining or rebuilding your chimney. If everyone had a chimney inspection once a year, we could reduce home fires by over 75 percent.”
DiscoverNEPA and WVIA are proud to highlight the tremendous manufacturing organizations and opportunities within our region. We offer a special thank you to Coterra Energy for generously supporting this project.
