Silvene Bracalente was a visionary with the heart of an entrepreneur. He grew up quickly outside of Philadelphia. Raised in the close-knit community of Trumbauersville, he entered the work force after the eighth grade to help support his family. He was industrious, finding jobs and quickly promoted in local machine shops and apparel factories. His passion for life and nurturing nature propelled his career, but he wanted to create his own legacy.
In his twenties, he saw an opportunity to start a machining business out of his garage. Married now and working full-time in the steel industry, he moonlighted nights and weekends, filling orders for his clients. He received his GED and got serious about building the Bracalente name.
He was known for being a problem solver and providing exceptional client service. His customers relied on him and the business started to grow locally. From a screw machine shop to more complicated components for larger customers. His son, Thomas was brought up in the business. A master machinist, he was able to help hone the skills of the workers, finding efficiencies and new opportunities in the market, taking over as CEO in the mid-eighties.
The business continued to grow regionally, expanding in capacity and capabilities. Following in his father’s footsteps, Tom had a family and soon his son was working on the plant floor in the summers. From the age of twelve, Ron was being groomed to take over the business and soon after graduating from college, he began taking a more senior role in the company.
Bracalente continued to grow nationally but the industry was showing signs of shifting. New technologies, innovation and cost structures along with overseas production started to erode this growth. In the mid 2000’s, the business was being challenged to compete on a global scale. In 2008, Bracalente opened the plant in China, increasing capacity and manufacturing capabilities along with streamlining processes to provide exceptional service to clients in aerospace, agriculture, industrial, oil and gas, medical, tactical and recreation. The additional footprint helped guide the global supply chain strategy and led to partnerships across China, India, Vietnam and Taiwan. The continuous improvement initiatives facilitate the annual capital investments into new equipment, innovation and talent retention and acquisition. Specializing in regulated industry’s; e.g. ITAR, AS9100, etc., the US plant serves defense projects globally while securing the Bracalente Edge™ redundancy program.
In 2020, Bracalente moved quickly to provide support during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Serving as an essential business, BMG was able to flex resources to ensure clients were able to maintain production throughout the shut-down, strengthening their position as global market leader.
