As BFS Industries celebrates our 80th anniversary this year, we’re looking back at where we started, and how a small “sideline business” in a Brooklyn shop became a national leader in boiler room equipment and critical fuel systems.
Foundations: The Early Decades
It all started in 1946. John Garbarino was running an Aurora Pump franchise in New York City when one of his best customers, Cyclotherm Boiler, reached out with an idea. After WWII Cyclotherm’s boiler business was booming, and they decided to dedicate 100% of their resources to manufacturing boilers. They approached John to build the boiler feed systems to go with them.
John stepped up, founding Boiler Feed Systems, Inc., and started building those systems in a small shop in Brooklyn.
For the first few years, it was a one-customer operation. That changed in 1953 when John’s son, Bob, returned from the Navy. Bob spent eight years in night school for engineering while building a nationwide representative network during the day. By 1969, the Brooklyn shop was bursting at the seams, and the company moved to West Babylon, NY (Long Island) to allow for continued growth.
Growing Up and Moving Out
By the 1980s, we weren’t just building boiler feed units anymore. Our deaerator systems had become our top selling product. The line expanded to include large spray/scrubber and tray type units handling capacities up to 1,000,000 #/hr, as well as small-packed column deaerators. To reflect how much we’d grown, we officially changed our name to BFS Industries.
In 1987, Tom Garbarino, the third generation, joined the company as a mechanical engineer from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. BFS had grown to be stronger than ever with inside sales and technical support, and was taking on bigger and more complex projects. It quickly became clear that the New York facility couldn’t handle the scale of what we were building and it was time to head south.
In June of 1991, we packed up the rigs and headed to Butner, North Carolina. Our new factory gave us the “headroom” we needed, literally, with 30-foot crane clearances that allowed us to package the massive systems our customers required.
Four Generations Strong
A lot has changed since that move to North Carolina 35 years ago. Tom was named President in 1995, we added a UL-certified panel shop, expanded our footprint multiple times, and launched our Critical Fuel Systems Division to support mission-critical diesel markets.
Our legacy continues. Michael Garbarino, a Mechanical Engineer from the University of Delaware, stepped into the role of President in 2026 after being with the company full time for the last 13 years, marking the fourth generation of Garbarino leadership.
A Thank You to the Boots on the Ground
We didn’t get to 80 years alone. Our success is built on the backs of our incredible network of representatives. Some of these partnerships go back over 50 years. We know that a high-quality product is only as good as the support behind it, and our reps are the best in the business.
To our customers, our reps, and our hardworking Team in the office & shop: Thank you for 80 years of excellence. We’re just getting warmed up.
