In 1987, Tamea opened Roanoke's first female-owned customized aluminum metal finishing business, East West DyeCom, Inc. (EWDC), supplying metal artists with colored aluminum and offering anodizing services to machine shops and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
While watching the production run in 2010, Franco realized that the parts her team had coated were being shipped worldwide, hence the new business name: Global Metal Finishing, Inc. Headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, Global Metal Finishing is a multi-line aluminum anodizing and precision hard-coating facility, employing over 35 people and supplying finishing services and products to hundreds of clients throughout the United States in a variety of industries.