BOOOOOOM!!!
By Jeff Crooke
Fireworks aren't the same since you were a kid sitting on a blanket in a field on the Fourth of July.
Innovations in the field have led to a whole new perception of the art and science of pyrotechnics, and Fireworks by Grucci has led the way in many of those innovations.
Grucci opened a 35,000-square-foot plant on 1,500 acres in the Radford Arsenal in the fall of 1997 with five employees, and has grown steadily since. Its most recently announced expansion will add 50 workers to a payroll of 111.
The economy has been hard on everyone, and Grucci is no exception. The company has experienced a mild downturn in the number of celebrations it is asked to plan, in no small part due to the chilling effects of terrorism.
Still, the company's 150 year history is not only based on entertainment, but also in building troop training devices such as mock mines and grenades.
When Phil Grucci's great uncle moved to the U.S. from southern Italy during the Great Depression, he had to adapt his business to the times, which, according to Grucci, were "much like we see today."
Maintaining Security
Five generations later, however, the relationship the company has with defense has paid dividends. The plant in Virginia is a good fit, says Grucci.
It doesn't have to go to all the trouble of maintaining the kind of beefy security necessary for a fireworks plant, since the government's security at the Arsenal is very tight.
The relationship is good for the government, too, since companies like Grucci pay a share to maintain that security, defraying the cost. Phil Grucci says "the company has a good relationship with Alliant Tech, the major Arsenal tenant, and the Army, especially Lieutenant Colonel Butler."
"We have a good workforce, too," says Grucci.
While there are over 200 fireworks companies in North America, few can list the impressive portfolio of events Grucci has been asked to illuminate.
The company produced fireworks displays for the last six presidential inauguration's.
This past June, the company was asked to produce an effect for the rededication of New York City's Museum of Modern Art, and the result was a stunning 1,500-foot rainbow that arced across the East River, reaching from Manhattan, the museum's previous location, to its new location in Queens.
In October, the company will be in Paris, where it will create a 1,100-foot pyrotechnic Chinese pagoda in the sky beside the Eiffel Tower, rivaling that structure in height. The 80-second long display is part of a celebration of the Pompidou Museum, with an attendance of 500,000 people expected.
"We're very proud that we've been recognized as an art form," says Grucci.
Science as Art
A lot of innovations have refined the science of pyrotechnics so that making such art is possible.
Where displays were previously lit by "a guy with a flare running behind a bank of fuses," now displays are computer-controlled to within a tenth of a second. Even individual fireworks carry computer chips that control detonation to within a thousandth of a second.
"Not only do we fill the sky and match the mood of the music, we can actually match the beat of the music," says Grucci.
No longer are displays typified by the long "oohs" and "aahs" that punctuated the spaces between bursts. According to Grucci, shows now are so tightly choreographed that audiences barely have time to get a good "wow" out before the next magnificent explosion.
That is gratifying, but it creates great pressure. No one likes a dud.
"What form of entertainment has the pressure we have, to produce an effect we really can't rehearse? One hundred and fifty years of history doesn't allow you to have a bad show."
The Gruccis, however, have nitro in their blood, and the closeness of the family, with three generations still active in the business and another in the wings, helps form the foundation. While the company does collaborate with artists to create effects, it has a simple recipe for success.
"We brainstorm every Sunday over dinner at my grandmother's house," says Grucci. "She lives right next door to me."
This article originally appeared in The Blue Ridge Business Journal.
Fireworks By Grucci can be reached at http://www.grucci.com.
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