Long after the death of steel building in the Lehigh Valley - with the end of giant Bethlehem Steel - a metal fabrication and machining industry thrives in the region.

The metal building companies are small, with fewer than 150 employees, and privately held. They are nimble and diversified, able to adapt to new technologies and market trends.

Business is quite good, according to interviews with several of the companies.

For instance, venture capitalist Ed Brill purchased an Allentown steel building manufacturer in 2005 to start BVI Precision Materials and has since built its work force to 130 employees, from about 30. Orders are coming in faster than the company can turn them around, creating a $50 million backlog.

''I'm not Bethlehem Steel. I don't want to exaggerate,'' Brill said, sitting in a conference room at his plant. ''But steel is back.''

Industry experts say the area has a high concentration of specialized plants able to provide steel building material for large transportation projects and such heavy industries as cement factories, rock quarries and power plants. Part of it is the legacy of Bethlehem Steel and the large number of skilled craftsmen remaining in the area.

In BVI's South Allentown plant, the Lehigh Valley's industrial roots are on full display. Skilled craftsmen work machines that cut and contort steel into different shapes. Sparks fly near welding tables, while a machine that punches holes through steel plates sounds like gunfire.

Workers on the shop floor earn up to $25 an hour, according to the company, an example of family-sustaining manufacturing jobs that are otherwise dwindling in Pennsylvania.

Whitehall resident Shane Schmoyer is one of them. Before BVI purchased the plant, Schmoyer spent five years working in its shipping and receiving department, packing parts for cement plants into giant crates that are shipped around the globe.

He was laid off, and when he came back there was an opening in the welding department. He took the job to learn a challenging trade, to boost his earning potential to better support his wife and two children, and to learn skills he could use on his cars and motorcycles.

He also sees a future in it because there is general steel building demand for experienced craftsmen as baby boomers retire.

''It's good work,'' he said. ''It gives me a sense of pride. When you finish building a giant dredge and see it sitting in your department, you think, 'Wow. We did that.'"