Pyrotecnico is a professional

fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

company based in

New Castle, Pennsylvania New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is northwest of Pittsburgh, and near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, just southeast of Youngstown, Ohio. As of the 2020 U.S. Censu ...

. The company was founded in 1889 by Constantino Vitale. They currently operate nationwide with over 1,000 technicians throughout the U.S. with six primary offices located in New Castle, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Montgomery, New Orleans, and Tampa. Pyrotecnico has worked with over 10,000 different organizations in the past 10 years including the fireworks and

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual w ...

for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's halftime show for

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...

in Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas and the 2004

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

. Pyrotecnico was awarded with the 2008 Gold Jupiter Award representing the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

at the

L'International des Feux Loto-Québec L'International des Feux Loto-Québec, also known as the Montreal Fireworks Festival, is the largest and most prestigious fireworks competition in the world. It has been held yearly in La Ronde over the Dolphins lake, since 1985, and is named after ...

Early days

In 1889 Constantino Vitale started this fireworks company in Pietramelara, Italy. In 1920 he immigrated to the United States through Ellis Island making a home for his family and company in

— a small town between Pittsburgh and Cleveland that would become known as "The Fireworks Capital of America."

Twentieth century

Constantino brought with him centuries of fireworks expertise which he taught to his apprentices his children and grandchildren. The Vitale family developed a reputation for grand and dramatic fireworks displays and the business grew rapidly in the United States. At the turn of the century, the company was one of the largest fireworks companies in the country. By 1940 the company was headed by Constantino's son, Rocco Vitale Sr., who led the expansion of the facilities in New Castle which were also briefly used to manufacture explosives for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Many of these buildings still stand today, across the street from the corporate headquarters. Five different generations of the Vitale family have grown Constantino's company. In the 1990s the company took on the name "Pyrotecnico" to reflect the variety of products that it used to complement explosives, like

confetti Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''co ...

, streamer cannons, lighting, fog, smoke, air dancers, close proximity effects and synchronized pyrotechnics to pre-recorded audio or live performance.

Today

Pyrotecnico is still headquartered in New Castle, PA and in 2007, completed a {{convert, 20000, sqft, m2, adj=on facility for its headquarters. The company has offices in New Castle, PA; Atlanta, GA; Auburn, NY; Dallas, TX; New Orleans, LA; Las Vegas, NV; Montgomery, AL; Philadelphia, PA / Vineland, NJ; Jaffrey, NH; Columbia, SC; Tampa, FL and Fort Lauderdale, FL.

References

Pyrotecnico's Official Web Page
Fireworks companies New Castle, Pennsylvania Companies based in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania Manufacturing companies established in 1889 1889 establishments in Italy