TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.

Just about everyone in the Pittsburgh area has seen the work of Bob Simpson’s company, without ever seeing it.

And they’ve walked through it, sat in it and driven on it, probably without knowing it.

Simpson’s business, Simpson Reinforcing in Arnold, made the steel reinforcing bars, or rebar, that’s in the concrete bones of landmarks such as PNC Park, Heinz Field and Pittsburgh Paints Arena. Its rebar also has been used in road and bridge projects across Pennsylvania and in several other states.

Simpson currently is providing rebar for the FNB Financial Center being built on the former Civic Arena site in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District and for the new terminal and parking garage at Pittsburgh International Airport.

“Anything that has concrete has rebar in it. It just has to,” Simpson said.

Simpson Reinforcing has been on Dr. Thomas Boulevard in Arnold since 2016. Simpson, 67, has been part of the business for 50 years, since shortly after graduating from Penn Hills High School in 1972 and before it bore his name.

What would become Simpson Reinforcing was founded by Joseph P. Zottola as Zottola Steel Corp. in 1969. Zottola of Penn Hills died in October 2016.

Simpson joined him straight out of high school in August 1972, shortly before turning 18. From the basement of Zottola’s home, they made blueprints for other rebar fabricators across the country.

“He knew an uncle of mine. That’s how I got hooked up with him,” said Simpson, who earned an associate degree in engineering design from Gateway Tech while working for Zottola.

They started cutting steel at a fabricating shop in Penn Hills in October 1972, where it was located until moving to Washington Boulevard in Homewood in October 1982.

Simpson was vice president from 1979 to 1995, when he bought the business upon Zottola’s retirement and changed its name.

Facing a rent increase for five buildings on Washington Boulevard, Simpson said a real estate agent found him the building in Arnold previously used by National Material.

“That building is bigger than all five buildings I was renting put together, and under one roof,” he said. “It was a gem in the rough. It was almost designed perfectly for us. If I would design a building, it is what I would have designed.”

Simpson bought the building in September 2015. While he said the building was in pretty good shape, National Material had left 13 tractor-trailers worth of old equipment that had to be disposed of, and he spent about $500,000 on repairs and remodeling.

Simpson phased out of Pittsburgh and into Arnold from December 2015 to February 2016.

“We never lost a day of business,” he said.

The following year, Simpson put on a 15,000-square-foot addition, giving the business 100,000 square feet under roof. Employment has increased from 40 to 55.

Shaun Becker of Shaler has been the shop superintendent for eight years. He first met Simpson while working for him at The Ice Connection of Pittsburgh, an ice arena in Middlesex that Simpson owned from 1988 to 2010.

“It’s great being under one roof,” Becker said. “You can control everything and see what everyone is working on.”

Becker said Simpson Reinforcing juggles multiple projects at a time and has more than a year’s worth of work under contract for a variety of contractors, small to large.

“It’s very hectic,” he said.

Simpson Reinforcing produces blueprints for rebar. It buys rebar in 60-foot lengths from mills across the country and then cuts and bends it to the needed shapes. At construction sites, iron workers take the bundles of steel, read the blueprints and tie them all together.

Today, more than in the past, the company preassembles rebar into cages at its facility rather than that being done at construction sites, Simpson said. The company also is able to coat its own rebar for rust protection, which is important when being used in bridge decks and parking garages.

“We used to send our product out to be coated by other coating manufacturers. Four years ago, we bought our own coating processing equipment,” Simpson said. “We now do our own in-house fusion coating of rebar. There are very few fabricators that do that, and it gives us a big edge.”

Simpson Reinforcing might become better known later this year when the Tom Hanks movie, “A Man Called Otto,” comes out. Scenes for the movie were filmed there in April.

Simpson said the movie’s makers decided not only to use his business as the place where Hanks’ character works, they changed the script to use the Simpson Reinforcing name rather than change everything to a fictitious one.

“The director called me and said every scene has your name on it. They asked if they could use my name, and I said why not,” he said. “Tom Hanks works for Simpson Reinforcing.”

Many Simpson Reinforcing employees are in the movie as extras, and Simpson is in a scene as a worker with Hanks.

“It was a great experience. I had so much fun that day,” Simpson said. “I’m pretty anxious to see the movie.”

Simpson moved from Richland to Clearwater Beach, Fla., in 2012. He hopes to retire in the next couple of years.

“I got a bunch of young guys who, hopefully, might be able to take over the company,” he said. “We’ll see how that pans out.”

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Support Local Journalism and help us continue covering the stories that matter to you and your community.

TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.

© 2022 Trib Total Media | All Rights Reserved

Send Letter to the Editor

TribLIVE App - App Store

TribLIVE App - Google Play