NEW CASTLE, Pa. — There is no downtime for Pryotecnico and Live Events employees. CEO Stephen Vitale said the companies prepare and organize events yearround, ranging from the Lawrence County Fair to concerts for some of the biggest music stars in the world and largescale events like Coachella and the Super Bowl.
“It’s important work. We help society celebrate,” Vitale said. “Fireworks, they hit all the senses. They’re magical.”
The company that would become Pyrotecnico, which is now in its fifth generation of ownership, was started in a small town near Naples, Italy, by Constantino Vitale, Stephen Vitale’s great-grandfather.
In 1922, Constantino Vitale immigrated to the United States and set up his business at 299 Wilson Road in Union Township, where it remains 103 years later.
“It means a lot to us. We love this community. This is where it all started for us,” Vitale said. “The work that we do is incredibly important to us.”
GROWTH AND EXPANSION
Pyrotecnico is now the largest fireworks company in the country in terms of amount produced and events covered, Vitale said. This year alone, the Chadwick Antonelli, Pyrotecnico warehouse technician, unpacks equipment at the company’s headquarters in Union Township after being used for a recent event.
Pyrotecnico has branched out to drone shows, which can be done separately or in tandem with fireworks.
“It tells stories in the sky,” Vitale said of the drone shows. “They’re a great complement to a fireworks display.”
In addition to Pyrotecnico, which focuses on fireworks and drones, companion business Live Events produces lights and special effects for events.
Between the two businesses, there are 350 full-time employees, with 1,000 who work on setting up events and 12 offices throughout the country. The fireworks side of the business is at full capacity and hasn’t taken on new clients for a number of years, Vitale said.
“It’s a lot to plan. We have a great machine that does it year in and year out,” Vitale said. “We’ve worked really hard and we’ll continue to work hard to put ourselves into a position to do it.”
Ideally, the company would like a six-month window to plan an event, but that often isn’t the case — it got just 48 hours to plan special effects for a concert by Canadian popstar The Weeknd and four weeks to plan for the Army’s 250th anniversary parade in Washington, D.C. on June 14.
Vitale said the company orders inventory at least 12 months ahead, so tariffs have been front of mind with China being a major exporter.
“This season, it didn’t affect us too much. As we’re starting to bring in product for next year, it’s certainly starting to impact us,” Vitale said. “It’s been a moving target. It’s hard to budget for it when you don’t know what they are.”
2025 EVENTS AND BEYOND
Pyrotecnico kicked off 2025 by producing the fireworks and effects for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show by Kendrick Lamar, the company’s fifth Super Bowl.
It also covered the opening of the Universal Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, Florida.
Other past event highlights were a fireworks and drone show for the National Medal of Honor Museum and AC/DC’s tour.
“We do get to do a lot of cool stuff,” Vitale said. “We do shows big and small. We look to create Super Bowl standards at every process.”
Vitale said in 2026, the company will work with its clients to plan expanded shows for the United States’ 250th anniversary.
“We’ve been working with companies since last year on events. It’s exciting,” Vitale said.
The companies will also work on shows and displays for the men’s FIFA World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico next June and July.