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July 6, 2026
MARATHON – Steve Miller, co-owner of Marathon Industrial Finishing, said there is no job too big or small for the family-owned business located at 497 Maratech Ave. in Marathon.
“We’ve done work as small as redoing metal chairs and furniture and tire rims all the way up to work for SpaceX, Disney, Tesla and Amazon,” he said. “Remembering our past and how so many folks helped us get started, we really don’t turn anyone away – no matter how small the job is. When we started as a business, we were taking anything and everything.”
Sheila Vojtech, Miller’s sister and co-owner of Marathon Industrial Finishing, said the company specializes in industrial surface preparation, protective coatings and high-performance finishing services for manufacturers and industrial customers across the United States.
Vojtech said the family-owned business, which opened in November 2017, focuses on applying durable coatings that protect equipment and components from corrosion, abrasion, chemicals and harsh operating environments.
“We have also done work for Foxconn and are currently doing a lot of work for data centers, the military, dams, etc.,” she said.
Standing out among the rest
Miller said Marathon Industrial Finishing is one of only two Wisconsin companies certified as an AMPP QP3 industrial painting facility.
QP3 certification, he said, is an industry credential that recognizes contractors for meeting rigorous standards in the shop application of industrial protective coatings.
“Because we are QP3 certified, we are considered elite when it comes to the painting process,” he said. “It’s the highest level you can be at. It allows us to get more business and get different types of paint, such as what the military uses.”
Vojtech said the company’s central location and QP3 certification provide “peace of mind” for customers in Wisconsin’s manufacturing-heavy market.
“We really pay attention to what part of the country [our finished products will be going to],” she said. “What kind of environment will the product be in? We make sure the coating being applied is proper for a corrosive environment or one with high UV rays.”
If an improper coating is applied, Vojtech said the application will fail.
“We have walked away from jobs where the customer would not change the paint specifications – therefore, I knew it would fail,” she said. “We won’t consider doing a job unless the paint/coatings are proper for the environment.”
Without proper finishing, Vojtech said corrosion, weather exposure and wear can dramatically shorten the life of manufactured products.
Proper blasting techniques
Miller said all blasting work – a process used to clean, prepare or finish the surface of a material by propelling abrasive particles at high speed – at Marathon Industrial Finishing is done by hand, allowing employees to reach “all the nooks and crannies” of a product.
“We can use steel shot, stainless steel shot, garnet, glass bead, etc.,” he said. “Depending on the type of material you are blasting, that determines what type of shot material you’re utilizing. For example, when blasting stainless steel, we use glass beads. We offer a wide range of blast cleaning services to remove existing paint, varnish, rust and mill scale.”
Miller said blasting is “the most important thing they do,” noting that without a proper blast, paint or protective coatings will eventually fail – sometimes repeatedly.
“Let’s say you buy a trailer for your lawnmower, and after two years, it’s already rusted,” he said. “If you don’t take the mill scale off and just spray paint over it, that mill scale will start to pop off – that’s why blasting is so important.”
Though bringing a trailer down to bare metal is ideal, Miller said many customers opt out because of cost.
“But, if you want it done properly, that’s what should be done,” he said.
Miller said the type of work Marathon Industrial Finishing completes can also depend on the time of year.
As an example, he said, a John Deere 200C LC excavator once came in needing some work during the company’s slow time of the year.
“Maybe that’s in January or February,” he said. “We’ll do some heavy haul trailers, dump truck frames, semi frames, etc., to fill the gaps in a little bit. During that time, companies that are using such equipment might also be down due to the weather, so that’s when we try to fit some of that stuff in.”
State-of-the-art facility
Miller said the company’s nearly 35,000-square-foot Marathon facility is ideal for handling the type of work it completes.
Beyond the building’s four offices, a quality control room, showers and locker rooms for its employees, he said the facility is “state-of-the-art.”
“Our four paint booths are equipped with heated cure cycles, expediting cure times and shortening product turnaround time,” Miller said. “They’re downdraft bake ovens, which means when you’re spraying stuff, you don’t get overspray from a side or up draft because everything is getting drawn down.”
Additionally, Miller said the whole facility – which sits on six acres – has two overhead cranes for lifting products.
“Those have a 20,000-pound lift capacity,” he said. “Our blast booth is 54 [feet long] by 24 [feet wide] by 16 [feet high]. We have a temperature-controlled facility, and it is secured at all times. We run anywhere from 16 to 22 employees.”
With some products stored on-site for months before delivery, Miller said the secure, climate-controlled facility allows year-round production regardless of weather.
An entrepreneurial background
Miller and Vojtech said their idea for Marathon Industrial Finishing began about a decade ago, both drawing on entrepreneurial backgrounds.
“I was working in the construction industry for two major companies, and my sister was an industrial painter,” Miller said. “I also had an engineering firm at the time, and everybody was always complaining about having to wait on painters.”
Miller said that inspired him and Vojtech to draw up plans for a facility and “just built it.”
“Sheila manages the office stuff along with my wife, Tammy, and then I take care of the shop,” he said. “Once we started getting busy, I basically retired from the trades, but I still run an excavation business – that’s been in operation since 2000.”
Vojtech said Marathon Industrial Finishing also uses a migrant work program and has done so for five years, with employees continuing to grow and prosper.
“It also fills a need for workers,” she said. “It’s basically for a two-year stint. They can either return home within two years or extend it by six months. It’s a good program. We also do a lot of team-building activities for all of our employees.”
Miller said there is room to expand if needed, but the question is: “Where do you stop?”
“We tried a second shift, and to manage that, it was tough,” he said. “Believe it or not, we have work scheduled out to 2028 right now. Why get greedy?”
For more information on the company, visit mifinishing.com.
One more thing …
Though running both Marathon Industrial Finishing and an excavation business requires balancing, Miller said it doesn’t stop him from pursuing other ventures.
“I also run an air taxi service in Alaska,” he laughed. “We have two bush planes that fly hunters in and out. It’s based out of the Wasilla airport, and we take hunters up to Deadhorse. The season is short, running from Aug. 3 to Sept. 21 this year. We’ll fly in 300-plus clients per year.”
