Year: 2020

GAWDA extends its condolences to the friends and family of Roger Bolenbaugh, former CEO of IWDA/IWDC, who passed away on October 3, 2020. According to an obituary posted on iwdc.coop: “Roger Bolenbaugh, 79, of Fort Wayne, passed away on Saturday, October 3, 2020. He was born to the late Fred and Elaine (Blythe) Bolenbaugh in Grover Hill, OH on January 2, 1941. Roger was the Valedictorian of Grover Hill High School Class of 1958. He married Patricia Ann Ross on June 25, 1960 at the Grover Hill United Methodist Church. He was a business executive for Lincoln Life Financial, W.…

Read the full press release from Central McGowan below. ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Central McGowan (www.centralmcgowan.com), a leading supplier of gases and state-of-the-art equipment/technology for the manufacturing, welding, medical, and food and beverage industries in the upper Midwest and a FANUC-authorized integrator of automation/robotic solutions, announced that it is expanding its Fargo, N.D. CO2 distribution hub to be a fully-stocked retail store and distribution site. Central McGowan’s Fargo store is located at 1226 38th St N, Fargo, ND 58102 (next to the newly painted water tower). The store officially opens today. Central McGowan has had a presence in the area…

Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide (CO2). It is used extensively as a cooling agent in a variety of applications such as food chilling and freezing, vaccine cooling, expendable refrigeration, blood and tissue sample preservation, heat treating of metals, and many more. It is also sometimes used to create special effects such as fog for events or stage presentations. Dry ice is extremely cold (−109.3 °F / −78.5 °C) and rapidly sublimates, or converts, into carbon dioxide gas at room temperature. It is critical that users read and follow the instructions and safety precautions provided by their…

TSA Extends Exemption for Expired Hazardous Materials Endorsements.  The Transportation Security Administration has extended the exemption from Renewal of the Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) Security Threat Assessment for CDL drivers which was scheduled to expire on October 30, 2020.  The exemption is now effective through December 31, 2020. Under this exemption, states may extend the expiration date of HMEs that expire on or after March 1, 2020, for 180 days, due to restrictions and business closures in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. If a state grants an extension, the individual with an expired HME must initiate the process…

GAWDA extends its condolences to the friends and family of Jillian Leanne Brown, who tragically passed away at the age of 16 in a car accident on October 20, 2020. Jillian worked at her father, Johnathan Brown’s, company U.S. Tank and Cryogenic. She will be missed. For a full obituary, read below or click here. Jillian Leanne Brown, a beautiful 16-year-old light in this world, lost her life tragically as a passenger in a car accident on October 20, 2020. Jillian entered this world on February 26, 2004, in Sarasota, Florida to her parents Jonathan and Jennifer Brown. Jillian was…

GAWDA held its first ever virtual Annual Convention on Friday, September 25, 2020. The hour-long virtual event was the “Business Session” of the Convention, which was supposed to have been held in Phoenix, Arizona. Members of GAWDA’s Executive Committee, including Abydee Butler Moore, Bob Ewing, Gary Halter, Robert Anders, Brad Peterson, and Ned Lane, as well as GAWDA Executive Director John Ospina were on camera and spoke during the event. Abydee welcomed members to the event, saying, “When I stood before you in fall 2019 in Washington DC, I laid out our 2020 VISION for this year.  That vision included…

I have had the privilege of working with some very bright Millennials (born 1980 through 1994), individuals who have excelled in their use of effective sales tools. Among them, a select few have shown the passion and skill set necessary to become “best in class” sales managers. There was one person, in particular, who I felt was very talented. Her goal was to develop a career in executive distribution management at the regional level. To achieve that, we worked together on sharpening her expertise in the areas necessary for success as a next generation sales manager. Here are some of…

There are so many possibilities to open with, so many stories to tell, so many lessons learned from the unimaginable turmoil this year has turned to. Unpredictable and unprecedented are understatements. Who in their wildest dreams could have seen this coming? The business world was still and quiet for a while but thank goodness it’s picking up again. We’ve learned our lessons and discovered new ways to move forward. New customer buying habits are being created, but “business as usual,” or the way it was before, is not likely to resurface anytime soon, if ever. Virtual and cloud options have…

Read the full press release from nexAir below. nexAir announced Friday that it has acquired the business operations and customers of Atlanta Medical Gases, LLC (“Atlanta Medical Gases”), a medical gas supplier located in the Atlanta, Georgia area.  The healthcare customers of Atlanta Medical Gases will complement nexAir’s strong medical gas presence in the greater Atlanta area and will benefit from a broad range of offerings nexAir provides to ensure the success of its customers. “The addition of the strong customer relationships at Atlanta Medical Gases to our current healthcare-related services and operations will be beneficial to everyone and expand…

I have spent the last year writing articles for Welding & Gases Today talking about my experiences working in the gases and welding industry and specifically working within the dynamics of a family business. In my last article, “Tips for Young People Considering Joining the Family Business,” I spoke at length about the transition process for a family business. As we all know, family businesses make up a huge percentage of GAWDA’s memberships and the transition process can be a difficult thing for both the younger and older generation to go through. As I said in my last article, working…