Month: October 2019

General Distributing Company announced new additions to their family members.  has been promoted to our industrial sales manager. Evan has worked with the company for five years in the capacity of outside sales in the Bozeman, Montana market. Evan has been a key component with GDC’s success in that market driving fabrication, specialty gas, industrial equipment and just overall great customer service. Evan is happily married and a father of two, he enjoys snowmobiling, mountain biking and water skiing. Evan carries a number of welding certifications and is invaluable to the Gendco team. “We look forward to him bringing his wealth…

A Cornerstone of Southeast Texas family owned businesses recently received national recognition for their contributions to the welding industry. Coastal Welding Supply, Beaumont, Texas, was named the recipient of the Excellence in Welding Awards Distributor for 2019 at the annual Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA) convention in Washington, DC in October. The award was created by the Welding Equipment Manufacturing Committee (WEMCO). As a Standing Committee of the American Welding Society (AWS), WEMCO created the annual Excellence in Welding Awards 16 years ago, to recognize individuals and organizations that are instrumental in raising the image of welding and strengthening…

Holston Gases, Inc. announced a new store location in Cynthiana, Kentucky. Holston Gases President Robert Anders said, “We are very pleased to add the Cynthiana Miles LP customers and product lines to those of Holston gases. Miles LP has a great reputation and loyal customers that we are excited to bring into the Holston family.” Miles LP owners agreed that the consolidation of the two companies’ resources in eastern KY brings added value to the current Miles LP customers. Holston Gases is a regional distributor of industrial, medical, and propane gases as well as welding, safety, and industrial supplies. Holston…

TOMCO Systems welcomed Chris Schmoeckel to its team, as Vice President of CryoSystems. Chris spent eighteen years with Chart Industries, where he most recently held the role of President-Americas following a variety of management roles involving engineering, product management, and manufacturing. Chris graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds a Master of Science in Management of Technology, from the University of Minnesota- Technological Leadership Institute. “We continue to focus on customer solutions and applications to further our growth,” stated Luke Bradshaw. “Chris’s experience in applications, commercializing products and operations…

Acme Cryogenics  announced the recent addition of Jim Daly to the position of Cryogenic Sales Engineer based in San Diego, CA. Jim will be responsible for supporting existing customer base on the West Coast and adding new customers to Acme’s expanding vacuum jacketed piping business. Jim received his Mechanical Engineering degree from Virginia Tech University in 2012. Since that time, he has gained relevant experience working as a Technical Sales Engineer at Diakont, FLW, Inc., and most recently at Mersen USA. Jim brings a solid technical background and exceptional selling experience to his new role. Other November 1 Connection Items:…

Weldcoa hosted a Cylinder Filling Operations Seminar at its brand new, full-functioning Innovation Center in Aurora, Illinois from October 8-10, 2019. “For years now, Weldcoa has been hearing feedback from customers and fellow industry colleagues that there’s just not enough quality training and education for our industry that addresses the needs of the aging workforce and loss of years of tribal knowledge, specifically on the operations side,” says Melissa Heard, Director of Marketing for Weldcoa. “Weldcoa understood the urgency and importance of that issue and wanted to contribute and took the lead to address that need.” Along with that, it…

Lincoln Electric® in partnership with ASM International is proud to announce the development of a Certificate Program called “Welding Technology and Materials Science.” The Joint Education Program (JEP) will provide learners the opportunity to advance their material science knowledge and obtain hands-on training with various welding technologies. The certificate program provides a platform for advancement of scientific expertise. To ensure rigorous training and education standards are being applied, all coursework has been previously accredited with The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). Professionals entering the program will come from a variety of industries and backgrounds, most appealing to…

Charles W. Miller, age 87, died on September 12, 2019. Charlie’s journey with Butler Gas began in 1963 when he married Janice Butler. Janice’s father, Tom Butler, and his brother, Jack Butler, each owned businesses in the gas and welding supply industry- Butler Cylinder Gas in Reading (Tom’s company) and Butler Gas Products in Pittsburgh (Jack’s company). Both Tom and Jack’s companies succeeded to the 2nd generation, with Charlie and Janice running Butler Cylinder Gas in Reading. Back in Pittsburgh, Jack was diagnosed with cancer and began quickly teaching his son Jack the business. Before he died in 1977, Jack…

GAWDA Files Comments on Driver Hours of Service Proposal. GAWDA has filed comments with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on the agency’s proposed changes to its driver hours of service regulations. 84 Fed. Reg. 44190 (August 22, 2019). GAWDA supported expanding the short-haul exceptions in 49 CFR § 395.1(e) to allow CDL and non-CDL drivers a 14-hour daily limit under this provision to place the short-haul driver on the same duty period as a long-haul truck driver even though a short-haul driver in local distribution operations is generally not subject to the same fatigue concerns as a long-haul operator.…

ORS NASCO Launches Next Chapter of Growth as an Independent Business One Equity Partners (“OEP”), a middle market private equity firm, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of ORS Nasco, from Essendant, Inc. in a corporate carve-out transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ORS Nasco is North America’s leading wholesaler of industrial and safety supplies selling exclusively to distributors throughout North America. ORS Nasco offers access to over 200,000 skus of premium products from more than 600 brands for use in the industrial, welding, energy, safety, electrical, construction, HVAC, MRO, PVF, plumbing, janitorial, and rental…

Cyl-Tec hired Sally Turner to be its Marketing Manager. In this position, Turner will be responsible for providing support for the sales team by providing critical sales collateral, multimedia resources and creative leadership. She will be a vital member of Cyl-Tec’s management team for strategic business development in direction, planning and growth of the company. Turner will  also utilize compelling marketing strategies and cohesive design that construct the “face” of the company. Other primary responsibilities include: development of marketing strategies for corporate branding, print layout and design, website design, SEO, video production, social media, email marketing and trade show display. She…

The 2019 IWDC Owners’ Meeting will take place from Tuesday, October 22 – Friday, October, 25, 2019 at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, Florida. The IWDC Owners Meeting is an IWDC member-exclusive event consisting of various business sessions, roundtables, seminars, and networking receptions. Owners can expect to listen in on economic and industry-related speakers that broach topics such as profits, performance, national competition, independent companies, mergers and acquisitions, and much more. IWDC provides an environment where owners can come together and learn about each other’s business, share insight into their respective marketplaces and industries, and network…

GAWDA will have a booth set up at FABTECH 2019, which runs from November 11-14, 2019, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. GAWDA will be at Booth B33080 Make sure to stop by and meet with the GAWDA team. Let them know if there is anything you’ve seen or heard on the floor that would be newsworthy. As one of the largest industry shows in the world, FABTECH is a great place to potentially recruit new GAWDA members. If you notice a distributor or supplier on the floor that you believe would be a good addition to the GAWDA membership,…

Minneapolis Oxygen launched its new website. The new site will feature a new blog from “The Gas Guy.” In his first blog post, the Gas Guy said, “I’ll be here every month giving you news and information as I see it. Like the insurance commercials say, I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two—the only thing here longer than me is the company itself. Minneapolis Oxygen has been around since 1946 offering gas supply and service that you can rely on.” The new Minneapolis Oxygen website has two sections: informational and an e-store. Whether you…

Keen Compressed Gas Co. is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. A three-day celebratory event is scheduled for October 17th, 18th and 19th at Keen’s headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. Each day will consist of an open house and vendor trade show along with live demonstrations, a variety of seminars on the industry’s hottest topics, food and give-a-ways. Vendors have donated items from welding machines, welding apparel, gift cards and so much more to be gifted to random winning attendees. Keen will also provide commemorative items to attendees. Over 30 top industry manufacturer representatives will be in attendance including Miller Electric, Hypertherm,…

AWISCO’s Dennis Bicocchi attended the Maurer Foundation’s annual Pink Diamond Gala on Wednesday, October 2nd, with wife Nancy. This year’s event honored Founder and President of El Sol Contracting, Bob Pomponio and raised over $270,000! AWISCO is proud to continuously support the Maurer Foundation’s mission to save lives through breast health education. AWISCO is happy to partner with vendors who are passionate about a good cause. As part of that effort to combat breast cancer, AWISCO offers several pink products that aid in breast cancer research and education. Here are just a few of those products. Other October 15 Connection…

Newsweek Magazine, in its Sept 27, 2019 issue, has released the results of its survey of more than 9,500 online shops in the United States, compiled by Statista.  “The online shops were then organized according to their main product offering into 39 categories and subjected to testing by Newsweek analysts on 48 objective and subjective criteria.”  Based on these results, a score out of 10.00 was determined for each online shop. In the category of “DIY, Tools, Supplies,” www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com ranked 5th overall, ahead of the online sites for:  Lowes, Home Depot, and True Value.  It also ranked above any other…

John Christie, who served as the President and COO of Worthington Industries from 1999-2008, passed away suddenly at his home on Saturday, October 5, 2019. He was 69 years old. A community advocate, a loyal Blue Jackets fan and a charismatic leader, John will be missed by all who knew him. John was preceded in death by his wife Linda Margaret Christie and his parents Robert Samuel and Sara Jane Kennard Christie of McConnelsville, Ohio. John became President and Chief Operating Officer of Worthington Industries in 2000 before retiring in 2008 to take care of Linda, who suffered from a debilitating…