Top photo: The VAP Steel team.
Project Benefits Extend from Company to Community
A long-planned modernization project at Value Added Processing, Inc. (VAP Steel) is becoming a reality thanks to $699,937 in grant funding awarded from Round 1 of the RISE PA Small-scale Award Track (SAT). The investment will lower greenhouse gas emissions by 10%, improve energy efficiency, and set up the western Pennsylvania manufacturer for growth into new energy markets.
VAP Steel is a full-scale metal service and distribution center providing metal toll processing, custom slitting, storage, and logistics solutions for construction, manufacturing, automotive, and other metal-based industries. Its 117,000 square-foot facility is in East Pittsburgh, at the heart of steel production in the region.
The company is family-owned and operated, led by President Mark Mazur, working alongside siblings, Daniel Mazur, Vice President and EVP of Sales, and Jill Regets, Chief Financial Officer, continuing the legacy established by their father, Joel Mazur.
Second-generation leadership at VAP Steel has led the company’s evolution from a traditional metal manufacturing center to a forward-looking manufacturing partner. For nearly a decade, company leadership has prioritized investments that improve efficiency, reduce operating costs, and position the business for sustainable growth. These improvements began with a facility-wide conversion from outdated lighting to energy-efficient LEDs—one of Mark’s first initiatives after becoming president—and have continued through targeted production-equipment upgrades, a phased automation strategy, and the replacement of an aging air compressor with a high-efficiency variable-speed system.
Together with VAP Steel’s focus on operational excellence, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction, these investments have strengthened the company’s capabilities, improved service reliability, and elevated its reputation as a trusted manufacturing partner. Since 2022, the company has been recognized as a HUBzone-Certified small business and, in 2026, the company was named SBA Western Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, and MidAtlantic Region Manufacturer of the Year.
“When I became president in 2017, we knew VAP Steel had to keep evolving to remain competitive and build a strong future for the company. Around 2021, we began implementing a phased automation strategy to improve our equipment, processes, capabilities, and workplace safety. Jill, Dan, and I work closely as a team to turn that vision into action, and we’ve also been fortunate to build on the more than 40 years of metals-industry experience our dad brings to VAP,” said Mark Mazur.
The RISE PA grant award will support the replacement of the company’s aging overhead gantry crane system with a new high-efficiency system that will significantly reduce energy consumption and emissions. The project has been on the leadership team’s wish list for several years, but the major capital investment required made implementation challenging. Now, grant funding is covering around 70 percent of the project cost, thanks in part to the company’s successful completion of both the Community Benefits Bonus and Fair Labor Bonus components of the program. In addition to its base grant award of $499,995, VAP Steel earned $99,991 for each bonus award.
“This crane modernization has been on our wish list for years, but the scale of the investment made it extremely difficult to move forward on our own. The RISE PA program is turning a long-term goal into a project we can finally implement. We’re deeply grateful to PennTAP for its guidance and continued support throughout the process, and to the Pennsylvania DEP for recognizing the value of this project and selecting VAP Steel for the award,” said Regets, the company’s RISE PA Project Lead.
The facility’s existing large 60-Ton overhead gantry crane relies on energy-intensive direct current (DC) motors that are heavy and slower to operate. The company is installing a new, lighter-weight 35-Ton crane system powered by high-efficiency three-phase alternating current (AC) induction motors that incorporate regenerative braking technology (capturing energy generated during braking and allowing it to be reused rather than dissipated as heat).
The project is projected to generate more than $15,000 in annual energy savings while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 10% and improving overall facility efficiency. The crane’s AC motors and modern controls will enable faster operation, lower maintenance requirements, and significantly improved energy performance compared to the legacy system. These improvements align directly with the goals of the RISE PA program, which supports investments that reduce industrial emissions while strengthening Pennsylvania manufacturers’ competitiveness.
Mark Mazur shared, “This project is a big step forward for us. It will reduce energy use, make the work safer and more efficient, and give us room to keep growing. Just as importantly, that growth stays here in East Pittsburgh—protecting the jobs we already have, creating new opportunities for our people, and allowing our investment to benefit the community we have called home for decades.”
Beyond energy and environmental benefits, the project will serve as a platform for future operational innovation. The crane offers advanced features including LED area lighting, support structures for inventory-management laser scanners, CCTV monitoring, warning systems, and automation capabilities. These enhancements will help streamline material handling, improve workplace safety, and support inventory control.
For VAP Steel, decarbonization is an important part of a broader modernization strategy that combines energy efficiency, automation, and safer, more sustainable manufacturing practices. By reducing energy waste and replacing outdated, physically demanding processes with modern equipment and controls, the company can improve reliability and productivity while creating a safer working environment and more skilled opportunities for its employees.
The effort also lays important groundwork for VAP Steel’s future expansion through a new fabrication division serving growing electrification and energy markets. As demand for advanced electrical infrastructure and power-distribution products continues to grow, the crane upgrade will help the company to serve these emerging opportunities.
“The new crane will help us move material more efficiently, expand our capabilities even further, and better position us for the next stage of growth. It also supports the new fabrication division we’re building and the opportunities we’re seeing in electrification and power-distribution markets. Ultimately, it helps us build an even stronger, more resilient company that can continue growing right here in East Pittsburgh,” said Daniel Mazur.
VAP Steel is one of 13 manufacturers that received funding in Round 1 of RISE PA’s Small-scale Award Track, which awarded nearly $5 million for industrial decarbonization projects across Pennsylvania. In addition to illustrating the company’s commitment to sustainability, the investment represents its next chapter in innovation, efficiency, and growth.
PennTAP serves as administrator of the RISE PA Small-scale Award Track in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and provides no-cost pollution prevention and energy-efficiency assessments that help manufacturers identify opportunities for operational improvements and prepare competitive grant applications. Programs such as RISE PA demonstrate how targeted investments in energy-efficient technologies can help Pennsylvania manufacturers reduce emissions, lower operating costs, and build a more sustainable future. Round 4 of the RISE PA Small-scale Award Track closes to applications on August 17. Round 5 is expected to open on September 15. Contact a PennTAP specialist to learn more.
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Client: Value Added Processing, Inc. (VAP Steel)
Location: East Pittsburgh, PA
Advisor: Nicholas Ritchie, PennTAP
Funding: Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA)