VIRGINIA BEACH — Entrepreneur Dieter Steinhoff has taken a few punches in his life, but he’s become an expert at bobbing and weaving.

A native of Hamburg, Germany, Steinhoff’s childhood during World War II was a symphony of whizzing bullets, deportation orders and exploding bombs.

He built up a sheet metal business only to hand it over to his wife after they divorced. Then he moved to Hampton Roads and helped start another sheet metal business in Chesapeake. The second wife got that one. Not too surprisingly, at 67, he’s had heart problems, eight surgeries to clear blocked arteries, a hernia treatment and five spine surgeries.

But it’ll take more than that to keep Steinhoff out of the ring. He’s built a new business (which celebrated its 10th anniversary in Virginia Beach this year).

He’s got a new wife (till-death-do- they-part, thank you very much). He even has a new heart (actually, a pacemaker in the old one).

The 80,000-square-foot facility in Virginia Beach did about $5 million in sales last year, and revenues are already more than $4 million for 2004, Steinhoff said.

Not too shabby for a guy who had to teach himself to speak English while creating machinery to technical specifications for his customers.

“People were so nice,” Steinhoff said. “I would just tell them I didn’t speak English, and they would work with me. I never had any problems.”

The company does no advertising and doesn’t have a Web site. They stay busy with projects gleaned through word of mouth, though.

Only a few other companies in the state build the type of machinery Acoustical does, and Steinhoff is known for his engineering capability. He gives written guarantees that his insulation will keep the noise from the generators below human hearing, a rarity in the industry, said executive vice president Michael Ireland.

“I built three businesses and none went bankrupt,” Steinhoff said. “They’re all still existing.”

Right now, Acoustical is hard at work designing and building mobile power generator housings for Verizon, a big account that could lead to more lucrative contracts.

With California’s energy problems and the Northeast blackout last year still at the front of people’s minds, the need for Acoustical’s products is becoming more evident.

“People are beginning to recognize the value of emergency power,” Ireland said. “You don’t want people stuck in an elevator or to not have enough power during peak time and suffer a production loss. At the same time, you want to be able to park the generator on the street and not drive everyone crazy with the noise.”

Through everything, Steinhoff has not only maintained a sense of humor but a sense of duty to his employees.

Before accepting a recent multi million dollar project building noise abatement hoods for Long Island Power in New York, Steinhoff met with his employees and asked if they thought they could handle the 84-hour work weeks that it would require.

During the project, which was completed last month, meals were on the company, and management kept up morale by raffling off electronics and furniture.

“We try to take an ethical approach,” Ireland said. “We routinely hire unskilled workers. We train them, and they’re able to move up quickly.”

Alexander Sadural, who works in shipping and receiving, said he has stayed with the company for the past decade because of perks like $50 bonuses at every holiday (even those like Valentine’s Day, Labor Day, and Independence Day) and gift certificates to grocery and toy stores.

“He’s very supportive of his people,” Sadural said. “Because I’ve been here so long, he gave me a 5 percent share of the company. Plus, I get a free car and free gas. He’s very generous.”

Said Steinhoff, who recently became a U.S. citizen: “What’s the point of working so hard and getting the day off if you don’t have a penny to go out and celebrate with your family?”

Acoustical serves fruit at break time instead of doughnuts, and all 80 employees get health insurance. And sometimes employees use factory equipment to make steel products at cost for local causes.

“We’re not greedy,” Steinhoff said. “We’ve done well, and we’re happy with that. I grew up blue-collar, and I still feel like these are my kids. I do the best I can for them.”

Steinhoff plans to give his share of the company to Ireland after he’s gone. He laughs heartily at the notion that he could end up passing the reigns to his wife of nine years, Petra Snowden, a former professor of higher education at Old Dominion University, in a divorce settlement.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “We’re very happily married. I thank God I met her. She brought me back to life. “Besides, we’re legally covered on this one.”

Reach Benita Newton at 446-2667 or benita.newton@pilotonline.com