60 Years of E.A. Bonelli

E.A. Bonelli 60th Anniversary Banner

On February 8, 2020, E.A. Bonelli + Associates, Inc. formally recognized sixty years in business, unveiling an anniversary logo and commemorating the occasion with a party in downtown San Francisco, blocks away from where it all began.

Ed, fourth from the left, at a Safeway groundbreaking in June, 1961

After graduating with an architectural degree from UC Berkeley in 1953, Ed Bonelli went to work in the engineering department of Ky Thiel, an industrial building materials supplier that specialized in steel and galvanization. In the late 1950's a decision was made to split the business, and Ed was given the opportunity to run his own architectural firm, specializing in the kind of industrial buildings that he had been working on for the last six years.

The E.A. Bonelli firm, which at the time was Bonelli & Wong, began operating from an office on the 500 block of Market Street in San Francisco in 1960. The office soon moved to a location at 2nd and Minna, where they remained until 1972. At that time, the firm moved to the sixth floor of a building at Howard and New Montgomery and officially became E.A. Bonelli + Associates. After two decades at a fourth San Francisco location, this time at Brannan and 9th, the new ownership group moved the growing business to its current headquarters in Oakland, CA.

Ed Bonelli's focus on food processing and cold storage was a guiding principle since the very beginning. In the 1970's Ed worked with Dow Chemical on some of the very first insulated metal panels, used at Safeway distribution centers in California. The company's first significant growth occurred during this period, when similar retailers turned towards in-house food and beverage production and distribution.

The managing partners of E.A. Bonelli, Inc., February, 2020

In the 1990's E.A. Bonelli + Associates, Inc. positioned itself once again on the cutting edge of industry trends by working on an influx of dryer projects for whey powder and infant formula production. Through 2020, the firm is proud to have worked on the design of almost sixty dryer towers throughout North America.

The ensuing decades have seen the firm's portfolio grow to include an ever-growing range of facilities including artisan food production and AgTech startups. Even as E.A. Bonelli has continued to grow, however, its focus remains firmly rooted in the vision of its founder: client-focused, hygienic design for the food & beverage industries.

The new logo, recognizing the anniversary milestone, has been formally adopted by the firm for business deliverables and correspondence for the remainder of the 2020 year.