Rocksolid Surfaces has become a premier fabricator in Cleveland, OH, but the 40-year-old company got its start in the wood business. “Tom Rocks was the original owner of the company,” said J.B. Walsh, president of Rocksolid Surfaces. “It started with primarily making boats and doing millwork. I was playing tennis with Tom and he told me he had wanted to retire and asked if I wanted to work with the company and I told him I wanted to purchase the business.” J.B. Walsh runs the business with his cousin Jim; their fathers, as well as Tom, are advisors to the business. “We wanted to have them as advisors because they owned a manufacturing company years ago,” said Walsh. “They know how to run a business efficiently, and we felt it was important to get as much knowledge from them as possible. Tom also built a well-established company and we just wanted to come in and reenergize the company.”
The business produces roughly 20 kitchens a day, each about 40 to 60 square feet in size. It does work ranging from residential to commercial, big box, builders, kitchen dealers and retail — serving markets in Northern Ohio and a part of Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. “Big box is the largest part of our business,” said Walsh. “We are now trying to build up the retail and commercial aspects of our business right now.”