­Zambelli and Pyrotecnico, Super-Producers of Fireworks Shows

New Castle, 8 square miles and some 22,000 people, is tucked into the green hills of Western Pennsylvania. In the early 1900s, its tin mills attracted so many workers that New Castle was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Among the new arrivals were Italian immigrants with a specialized skill: making fireworks. Over the years, five families set up companies in the area, and New Castle became the fireworks capital of America. The town trademarked the nickname in 2006, so make that The Fireworks Capital of America™.

The fireworks business hasn’t experienced explosive growth—hey-o!—but it hasn’t had a bad year in a long while, either. It’s now a billion-dollar industry. The companies that stage shows for July 4 (and festivals and weddings and New Year’s Eve) account for one-third of that. Two of the biggest, Zambelli and Pyrotecnico, remain in New Castle. Together they produce almost 5,000 fireworks shows a year; more than one-quarter of those take place around the Fourth of July, making up about half of the companies’ annual revenue. Some 17 million pounds of fireworks are shot off by professionals in July. Amateurs explode 10 times that amount.