By Joyce DeFrancesco
There's still a wide field to choose from for the second edition of '40 Under 40'
Gene Kirila III / Founder, Pyramid Fitness, VEC Technology, Efficient Machine Tool Sales Inc. and Innovated Capital Management / Age: 36
Who would have guessed that a paper Gene Kirila wrote at Youngstown State University would lead to a revolution in manufacturing processes?
At 20, the Brookfield, Ohio, native dropped out of YSU to prove that his theory-a manufacturing operating system applicable to any industry-would work. Since the only area this former offensive linemen knew well was weightlighting, he opened Pyramid Fitness, which makes fitness machines (something Kirila had done during high school for his school's football team). When Kirila sold pyramid in 1993, it was worth $44 million. Pyramid Fitness led Kirila to a new manufacturing innovation and his next company, Virtual Engineered Composites VEC Technology-basically a factory in a box.
A set of digitally controlled floating plastic molds, VEC/Cells manufacture products made faster, cheaper and easier than traditional methods, in a range of strong plastic composites. Rather than the usual metal molds, VEC uses only plastic skins stretched over reusable frames surrounded by pressurized water in a leakproof vessel. The mold halves close, and composite material is injected into the cavity. The floating mold allows manufacturers more control, resulting in faster production and a better-looking product. Widely regarded as revolutionary, VEC technology is why Kirila was named a "Hero of U.S. Manufacturing" by Fortune magazine in March.
Kirila's third company, Cranberry-based Efficient Machine Tool Sales, which distributes and integrates automated workcells, was named a "Fastest-Growing Company" in 1999 by Inc. Magazine Kirila recently started a fourth company, Innovated Capital Management, a business incubator in Greenville, Mercer County.
Kirila is ready to rest on his laurels a bit, keeping his involvement limited to board-level activites. The Hermitage father of four says that "my commitment is to my family now."