Giotto builds his 10th business, Oriskany Arms

ORISKANY — The Greeks called it “sunergia.” Today, we call the word “synergy,” meaning “cooperation” or “working together.” In business, it generally relates to the cooperative interaction of acquired subsidiaries or merged entities. For Frank Giotto, it’s the driving force behind his business enterprises. Not content to manage nine corporations, he incorporated his 10th last May.

The new corporation, called Oriskany Arms, Inc., is a boutique firearms company. Located in Giotto’s Fiber Optic Research Park in the town of Oriskany, Giotto’s latest creation is currently restricted to producing non-functional prototypes of its version of the popular Colt 1911 pistol. “We are just waiting for a dealer’s license from New York State,” says Giotto, the irrepressible entrepreneur and sole stockholder. He says the license “should be received in February or March. That means production can begin in April.”

Giotto is utilizing a 5,000-square-foot building, of which his pistol assembly and testing requires 1,500 square feet. The gun components are manufactured by another Giotto enterprise, called Fermer Precision, Inc., which has manufactured gun parts since its founding in 1947 and was granted a federal firearms license in 1997. Giotto bought Fermer in July 2011. “They [Fermer] have the experience and capacity to produce the Colt 1911 parts, and Oriskany [Arms] can assemble them using our existing facility and supervisory experience,” notes Giotto. “That’s what I mean by synergy.”

 Oriskany Arms projects manufacturing between 1,000 and 5,000 units in the first year, depending upon demand. “Oriskany will need four to five new employees initially, and Fermer will have to add another three to four,” says James Rabbia, president of Oriskany Arms and the vice president of operations at Giotto’s Fiber Instrument Sales, Inc. Rabbia previously worked at Remington Arms in Ilion, where he was a manufacturing engineer and quality manager before assuming the role of plant manager. Rabbia, who holds a mechanical-engineering degree from Syracuse University and an MBA from the Lally School of Management & Technology at Rensselaer Poytechnic Institute, joined Giotto Enterprises in 2010. Born in Utica, he and his wife have six children.

Oriskany Arms at first will aim to attract consumers, rather than police forces.

“We are initially targeting recreational users, especially gun collectors and target shooters, and additionally, those concerned about home security. At a later date, we may shift our focus to security forces, such as police departments.”

Even though the company is only producing prototypes, it has already begun to market the guns.

Oriskany Arms showed off its wares at the Shot Show, held Jan. 14-17 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. The company went to Vegas “to get our name out to the [professional] community and line up three to five good-sized distributors. Oriskany [had] a booth at what is the largest trade show of its kind in the world. The Shot Show features 1,600 exhibitors and draws more than 60,000 industry professionals [from all 50 states and 100 countries] involved with shooting sports, hunting, and law enforcement,” Giotto says.

“Oriskany Arms has also retained reps in Phoenix, [Arizona] and Tennessee to reach out to the larger dealers,” Rabbia adds, “and we are planning to exhibit at regional shows in 2014, in addition to the national show. We are also relying on the company website (www.oriskanyarms.com) to alert both distributors and dealers, as well as the general public. For now, our focus is strictly on the domestic market.” To aid the company’s marketing effort, Rabbia and Giotto are working with Rick Uselton, a manufacturer of custom pistols in Franklin Tenn. under the company name Uselton Arms, Inc. Uselton, who claims that a majority of Colt 1911 purchasers immediately replace factory parts with aftermarket parts, is consulting with Oriskany Arms on its marketing and production.

Fermer Precision started as a tool-and-die shop after World War II. Giotto bought the company to provide his group of companies a computer-numerical-control (CNC) production facility capable of producing metal-working and related solutions. The 65,000-square-foot plant is located in Ilion. The president is Stewart Bunce, who has worked at Fermer for more than three decades. At the time of Giotto’s purchase, Fermer employed 40. Today, it employs 70, working two shifts. In 2012, the company acquired 16 additional machining centers and is now one of the largest CNC machining facilities in Upstate, capable of machining ferrous and non-ferrous materials. Fermer’s customers include the Carrier Corp., Goulds Pumps, Magna Powertrain Systems, G.W. Lisk Co., and Remington Arms.

Classic gun

“The Colt 1911 is a classic and still very popular,” says Giotto. “Even though there are a number of manufacturers like Colt, Ruger, and Remington and the market seems to be saturated, our model fits a niche which is above entry-level and offers a good price-value. While Colt 1911s sell for between $400 for entry models and $5,000 for custom models, our pistol is priced in the $700 to $750 [retail] range. The gun offers a custom feel at a production price. Also, the gun is 100 percent American–made, and ammo is reasonably priced. That’s why we chose the Colt 1911 as our first product, and chose this time to start production: We have the greatest gun salesman in history — President Obama.”

The popularity of the Colt pistol can be traced to its inventor, John Browning, who developed the weapon as a substitute for the revolver. The 1911 was the standard of modern semi-automatic pistols, which rely on bullet-energy to reload rounds housed in a clip. The U.S. Army tested the weapon in 1910 by firing 6,000 rounds from a single weapon over a two-day period. When the barrel became too hot, the gun was immersed in water to cool it. There were no malfunctions.

The Army adopted the weapon in 1911 as its standard sidearm. While the military services officially replaced the model in 1985, many special-forces and police units still rely on it as standard issue.

“I chose the company name Oriskany Arms because of the epic battle fought here during the Revolutionary War,” says Giotto. “ ‘Oriskany’ is a name in history that’s synonymous with pride, tradition, and honor.” Giotto is referring to the battle fought on Aug. 6, 1777, when the local militia attempted to relieve the besieged Ft. Schuyler (Stanwix), which had been built by the British to protect a critical, water portage against invasion by the French. Ambushed by the British and Indian defenders, the militia sustained losses exceeding half their force. Nevertheless, the militia’s sustained effort broke the spirit of the attackers who subsequently deserted the fort and retreated to Canada.

Giotto Enterprises is comprised of the following companies: Fiber Instrument Sales, Inc.; The Light Connection; Fermer Precision, Inc.; FIS Blue, in which his Giotto’s daughter holds a majority interest; Molding Solutions, Inc.; Force Guided Relays; Energy Efficient Products, Inc.; Max L. Cowen Student Stores; The Mohawk Valley Jet Service, in which he is a 50/50 partner; and Oriskany Arms. Except where noted, Giotto is the sole stockholder in all of his companies.

Giotto Enterprises currently employs 362 and generates $75 million in annual revenue. Fiber Instruments, the largest company among his enterprises, exports to 11,000 customers in 110 countries. Giotto Enterprises includes 250,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehousing space, plus a 15,000 square-foot training center that is used to train 1,000 people annually in fiber optics.

Giotto was born in Oneonta and grew up in Utica. As a youngster, he developed and sold individual pizzas before they were popular, ran a taco stand, and invented a coffee maker that could brew single cups. Driven to create new companies, the newest addition not only leverages the synergy of his operation but also diversifies the customer base of Fermer.

It’s only a matter of time before Giotto launches his 11th company.

Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@tmvbj.com