COLUMBUS, Ohio — Bob Fortin and his six siblings have been part of the family’s Columbus-area business for decades. 

“If you do good quality work, you will always have customers and you’ll always have a good following,” says Bob Fortin, spokesperson and once second-generation co-owner of Fortin Ironworks. 

Fortin Ironworks designs, manufactures and repairs commercial and residential iron products. 

“My father Joe was a welder in the U.S. Army. When he returned back to the states, married my mom and they started a welding shop in their garage in the Grandview area,” says Fortin. 

Their shop would eventually expand to this destination storefront on West 5th Avenue in Columbus. 

They also have one of our state’s unique art and home accessory galleries, with many of the items made in their 56,000 square foot facility. 

“We deal 50 percent with the residential customers, and 50 percent with commercial. My mom and dad taught us to learn to do something for everybody, so we do everything from small repairs to mass-producing railings and shipping things all over the country and beyond right now,” said Fortin.  

Bob’s son Cameron is part of the third generation of ownership and management of the company. 

And while founding member Josephine, who recently turned 100 years old, checks in from time to time, she knows the company is in good hands. 

Fortin says, from 1946 to the present, the company has always done its best to produce authentic wrought iron, that, like the family business, lasts for generations. 

He has this message for supporters of local businesses. 

“Keep supporting your local trades. Local mom and pop stores such as ours need local support. Without the local community support, none of this would be possible,” says Fortin.