As Rochester Brainery founder Danielle Raymo contemplated ending her decade-plus tenure with the business, she wanted to go out the right way. She didn’t want to just close down, leaving the teachers of so many experiential classes without that revenue stream or unique marketing opportunity. She also didn’t want to hand it over to someone that was going to radically change how the Brainery operated.
When Mike Krupnicki heard Raymo was preparing to sell, he eagerly called her, only slightly tweaking that she hadn’t already reached out to him. Krupnicki owns Arc + Flame, an education and art space in Chili focused on flameworking: welding, blacksmithing and glass working. The two business owners have been collaborating for about 10 years, and Krupnicki officially bought Rochester Brainery in August 2025.
“In every aspect he’s the perfect person to take over the reins of the business,” Raymo said. “He knows the community, he knows the class landscape, he’s worked with teachers before and customer service is the most important thing to him.”
Krupnicki is a gregarious guy who loves to crack a joke. He started working at Mahany Welding Supply in 1982 when he was 18 — a business his father bought after also finding work there in 1946, shortly after the end of World War II. Over the years, the business changed hands from father to son, and Krupnicki’s passion for teaching pushed him to start offering welding classes onsite in the early 2000s. By 2009, more than 3,500 students had taken classes. A need for skilled welders in the area led to a partnership with Monroe Community College to create a 20-week job readiness program. Now in his classroom at Arc + Flame, Krupnicki looks up at his wall of 800 graduate photos (including one student who married his daughter) with adoration and pride…