HOME HISTORY MEDIA CONTACT History The original company affiliate of Wolanin Companies Inc. has been in business for many years and had its founding concept origination in 1947 just after W.W.II. COMPANY BEGINNING The original operational Company affiliate started with only Thirty Eight US Dollars to his own name was founded and begun by Vincent Wolanin in the early 1970's after graduation from Philadelphia University in Philadelphia, Pa. and graduate schooling at Union College. The growth engine for the companies at it's inception was a building materials wholesale business which during the early 1970's supplied a large amount of the multi family apartment building boom developers and builders with products. Vincent Wolanin founded and created a business which for the first time did not require a warehouse as all the shipments were done on a contract basis and direct shipped from the manufacturer to the building site of the General Contractor. This Wolanin affiliate billed all the supplied materials on a contract basis to the purchaser and profit was made by buying in bulk amounts and pricing the products to the large use end purchaser at more attractive pricing than could be obtained from the local lumber yards who had comparatively large overhead costs. The Wolanin affiliate operated strictly with paper, phones, and a briefcase to move products around the world in a method similar to that which is used today in a lot of businesses and is now known as "just in time shipping". The amazing part of it was all of this considerable business was done by US mail as no fax even existed at the time, there was no FedEx, and no computers that a new business could afford. In fact the Wolanin affiliate became so efficient that product was showing up on time like it was contracted for and the builders were falling behind in the construction schedule so that materials were actually stockpiling up. THE SUCCESSFUL GROWTH At that point Vincent Wolanin approached one of it's contractor developer customers sensing a major problem brewing but also an opportunity for his fledgling company as with materials piling up it would be impossible for the developer to draw down on his construction loan to pay the Wolanin affiliate as the schedules were not being met. Vincent Wolanin offered to build a section in a development for one of the client developers and with no experience at all as a builder had to prove this could be done. In order to satisfy the developer who had concerns since the Wolanin company had never built any buildings anywhere in the world. Vincent Wolanin with some bravado sealed the first contract with only a handshake and these words." If you don't like it when we are done and if we don't make the schedule you don't have to pay us", "further though if we make the schedule and you are satisfied we automatically get to build all buildings we can handle and we get to do them until project completion with an inflation factor built in" The developer said fair enough and the Wolanin construction entity which became Bethlehem Construction Corp. was off and running. The first section of buildings were built by employing efficient new air powered construction tools which were just becoming available. The happy ending of this saga was the company took off and before long was developing and building apartment complexes, commercial buildings of all types, including sophisticated medical facilities, and design build developments that became the World Headquarters for a publicly held company, plus a major aviation operation at Southwest Florida international airport. CURRENTLY Later years to the present has seen various Wolanin Companies Inc. affiliates involved in the Athletic Club Business, Professional Sports, Rock N' Roll and various Entertainment Assets, The Record Business, Aviation, The Internet, Shopping Centers, Office Building Development, Hotel Development, and as investors in various public companies. In the current and beyond Wolanin Companies Inc. will continue to be involved in Asset Ownership and management of companies in Real Estate, Development, Construction, Aviation, Entertainment, and intellectual property, including Acquisitions, Mergers, and Investments therein. ©WOLANIN COMPANIES INC. WEB CONTENT ©TOPBOSS™