Michael Catalano, CEO

Capitol Awning Co.
Jamaica, N.Y.

IFAI member since: 1987
Most valued benefit: Education

Envision, build, repeat

March 1, 2016  |  Awnings & Canopies, Business, Features, Management, Markets, Perspective

Michael Catalano treats his clients as strategic partners—and that keeps them coming back. “We have a saying here: It’s not about the first job. It’s about the next job,” says Michael Catalano, CEO of Capitol Awning Co., Jamaica, N.Y. “And probably 90 percent or more of our work ends…
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Angles of shade

February 1, 2016  |  Awnings & Canopies, Markets

Tech giant Google™ relied on old-school textiles to help shed some shade on its new campus expansion. Google™ is known for its inventiveness, creativity and efficiency. It’s no surprise that the unique Internet company continued that trend when it chose an industrial fabric solution for the ou…
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Demand + supply = prevail

October 1, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies, Business, Features, Management, Markets, Perspective, Tents

Robert Cole brings decades of experience and common sense to the time-honored but always evolving economic model of supply and demand. One of the great things this industry has to offer is the quality of its suppliers,” says Robert Cole, IFAI Honored Life Member (HLM) and owner of Goodwin-Cole, Sa…
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Selling shade

August 1, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies, Features, Markets, Perspective

Conrad Masterson builds his business by focusing on what clients really want—and what employees need. “The first thing I learned when I entered the shade sail industry was to focus on what the customer really wants,” says Conrad Masterson, president of SHADE Industries, Phoenix, Ariz. “T…
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Shade sails on ice

June 1, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies, Markets, Projects

A goal of the restoration of New York City’s Riverbank State Park ice rink, completed in December 2014, was to extend the season for the ice by protecting it from increased sun exposure it experienced in late winter. Considering the facility’s high visibility due to its location—69 feet above …
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Printed, practical and appealing

June 1, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies, Features, Markets

Fabric graphics projects enhance public spaces thanks to their aesthetic, acoustic and eco-friendly properties. When 114 million viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015, they partook in a visual feast of fast-moving plays, dazzling electronic displays and big-screen graphics. TV vi…
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Shades of urban renewal

June 1, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies, Features

Urban renewal is a trend whose time has come and stayed—and shade components are playing a starring role. It wasn’t long ago that downtowns seemed more like ghost towns in many urban areas. The promise of larger lawns, less traffic and easily accessible malls drew people to the suburbs instead o…
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A round of shade

May 1, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies

Aresidential remodeling job transformed a Tucson, Ariz., home and back yard into a relaxing private oasis—minus the gently wafting shade of palm trees or any shade at all. The homeowners contacted Phoenix-based SHADE Industries® to devise an elegant solution to a glaring problem. The SHADE Indust…
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An awning of a different color

April 2, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies

Carrying the load: Framed awnings and tensile awnings must meet different engineering and code standards. Erik Jarvie, structural engineer and sales manager for TensionStructures (a division of Eide Industries Inc., Cerritos, Calif.) lays it out straight on the curvy business of tensile awnings: “…
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Behind the curves

April 1, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies, Features

Tensile structures add exciting new dimensions —and distinct engineering challenges— to the commercial shade products market. It could be said, like the mythical Greek lion-goat-snake beast the chimera, that the tensile awning is a creature of blended ancestors. Not long ago, structures with ten…
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