By Tania Phillips
When Vince Costanzo opened his plumbing business in 1962 in a small tin shed behind where the current Police Station is located he didn’t realise he was starting a family dynasty.
V&SM Costanzo Plumbing was a small business, set up by Vince after he finished apprenticeship with R Koina And Son the year before, but it grew fast and soon moved to a more central and visible location at 64 Maryland Street.
Almost six decades later his great nephew’s are still running a family businesses in that location, a business that has become an integral part of the Stanthorpe and Granite Belt community and has been known, for more than a generation, as MWF Plumbing.
In 1967 a second generation of the family became a part of the business when Mario Torrisi, Vince’s nephew, took up an apprenticeship. His older brother Frank did his apprenticeship at Pierpoint Motors and moved to the Sunshine Coast to further his career. But family ties and ties to Stanthorpe are strong for the Torrisi/Costanzo family and so by 1982 Frank had returned to the area and was working with his Uncle in the office.
When Vince decided to sell up it seemed like a natural decision for the brother’s and friend Warren Barker, who was employed in the workshop, to buy the business and MWF was born.
Under their stewardship the business grew steadily over the years, utilizing the adjoining building for much needed space and opening a second shop in Tenterfield.
Family and business continued to go hand-in-hand for the Torrisi’s so when both Frank and Mario decided to retire in 2014 it seemed again to be a natural progression for the next generation to step in.
Mario’s four sons now own MWF with Steven and Michael as operational managers – though Mario can still be found working from to time-to-time lending a helping hand and watch his son’s make the business their own.
So now with 58-years behind them, the Torrisi family is looking to the future, expanding again – adding a new chapter to the history book of MWF Plumbing.
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
