Clearing the air in fabrication facilities can often be easier said than done. This is why those in heavy industry and related educational organizations value the importance of creating safer work environments by investing in premium-quality air filtration. Providing North America with 100 percent made-in-America custom engineering and turnkey fabrication of specialist equipment, Clean Air Industries has become a well-known name in sophisticated air extraction and filtration across the continent.
Based in Rome, Georgia (where it has two facilities), the company invests in building its advanced manufacturing capabilities, which enable it to set the standards of technology for the industry. The result is a respected, industry-leading air filtration outfit that provides American businesses with homegrown, industrial-quality products they can trust. This committed team of product experts ensures that customers enjoy dedicated support and a positive, professional purchasing process.
Active growth
The company is justifiably proud of its continuous expansion and improvement through highly successful acquisitions. Its most recent was concluded in May this year with the purchase of RTT Finishing Solutions in Rockwall, Texas, about 40 minutes from Dallas. Previously trading as Col-Met, the company rebranded in 2020. Ultimately, it was its reputation for outstanding quality that sealed the deal, according to Clean Air Industries President, Mark Salamone.
This recent acquisition adds powder-coating and painting-booth capabilities to the company’s existing range of grinding, sanding, and welding booths—all complete with air filtration and particle capture if required.
This strategic acquisition opens a portal to additional markets while establishing a complete end-to-end service that adds tremendous value to the Clean Air Industries’ existing portfolio. As Salamone points out, “We can now paint anything from a golf ball to a train cart.” With a new vertically integrated 150,000-square-foot facility, Clean Air Industries is better established in its markets than ever before.
The company’s Vice President of Marketing, Theo Rigas, is enthusiastic about the addition. “RTT adds a whole new dimension to our business. A lot of it dovetails nicely into our existing business—we’re even seeing some overlap in some of our distributors where we already share customers,” he says. “It’s very beneficial for everybody to be under one umbrella.” The next step is to dovetail and optimize the two companies’ distribution systems for maximum synergy.
A tight team
Rigas describes the robust growth of Clean Air Industries over the past 18 months as astonishing, especially considering the present economic climate and how some competitors are struggling. “We’ve been blessed,” he says. “We source all of our materials domestically. We manufacture all of our products on U.S. soil from scratch.”
Having observed the struggles of competitors caught between tariff increases and the rising costs of offshore manufacturing, Rigas is spot on about the company having embarked on the right path from the start, with the once-popular offshore fabrication model now significantly more costly. But physical and economic growth is not Clean Air Industries’ only expansion agenda; with continuous investment in sales and marketing, and engineering always prioritized, the Clean Air team continues to grow as well. “We’re always building our sales team to serve our distribution partners. As we grow, distribution grows,” Salamone says, and Clean Air attracts the caliber of people it does by treating and remunerating them fairly. “We are heavily invested in our people,” he says.
With many years of experience under its belt, the company has learned the real value of the input of its team. The management team invites open discussion around any novel ideas that could improve workflows and systems and takes the time to keep everyone up to date about company decisions and trends. Everyone is heard, which means that good ideas are always percolating.
While growing from 50 to around 230 team members in just five years has called for some adjustments, to put it mildly, the can-do approach of this team remains a constant at Clean Air Industries. By maintaining an open and supportive approach to team building, the company continues to encourage and cultivate the close-knit atmosphere its people have come to value over the years.
Going big
Founded by Bertil and Antoinette Brahm in 1992, the company evolved from a young regional hopeful into a national rock star. 33 years of experience later, Clean Air Industries and its leadership remain as committed to clearing the air for customers as they were in the original facility in Western Kentucky—though much else has changed since then.
Since its acquisition of Amtech LC in Russellville, Kentucky, was concluded in 2023, Clean Air Industries has undergone a period of marked evolution, significantly diversifying its offerings and refining its company culture. The purchase also gave the team access to Amtech’s cutting-edge technology for industrial dust collection—trapping airborne particulates with industrial-power central collection units. In the process, the company appointed President Mark Salamone in 2022, and several other crucial players have joined the team since.
As a result, Clean Air Industries’ innovations continue to push what used to be seen as the limits. One example is its Defender Downdraft Table series—modular workbenches featuring automatic ventilation. The now-established proprietary WeldStation™ weld fume extraction technology was an early innovation, as was the novel BRAHM® Plug & Play Collector Series, a live-pulsing cartridge collector system for dust and fume management.
Care for every customer
Growth and innovation, however, are not the company’s sole drivers. The team ensures that every customer’s system performs optimally within its own unique setup, with or without the addition of standard modular systems, and Clean Air’s professional approach to delivering personalized service makes it a pleasure to do business with its team, no matter the size of the system.
Looking at the next step in expansion, the company is considering venturing into aftermarket services as part of its diversification strategy. Currently, the idea is to offer service visits, spare parts, replacement orders, and more. Salamone is confident in the company’s capacity for continued evolution and expansion. “Each of those avenues offers a huge runway for organic growth; together, they have an even longer runway for growth,” he says.
In Salamone’s thinking, honing these processes for efficiency will be the path to continued excellence—something the leadership is fully committed to. Rigas concurs: “Our ownership has shown a strong commitment to growth. They’ll make the strategic acquisitions when they’re needed; they’ll add new players as we need them,” he says.
At the same time, cutting-edge innovation based on market relevance remains key to the company’s sustained success. In the process of completing the largest project in its history at the time of our conversation, Salamone is understandably proud of everyone who contributed to turning a $5 million opportunity into a huge success.
As Clean Air Industries continues to build on its existing, enviable self-sufficiency, it carefully ensures seamless vertical integration, which is perhaps the best news of all for existing and new customers. And so this one-stop shop is coming to industrial pacesetters across North America, bringing not just a breath of fresh air to working Americans but better health and safety, too.
