Year: 2020

AGL Welding Supply Company AGL Welding Supply Company (Clifton, New Jersey) is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2020. The company can trace its roots all the way back to a 1920 business called William Rudolph Company in Paterson, New Jersey. William Rudolph was eventually merged into AGL which is an abbreviation for “Auto Gas Light,” harkening back to the days when the company supplied acetylene gas to light the head lamps for automobiles. In 1958, AGL was acquired by Bud Fenelon, along with his brothers, Tom and Bill, and brother-in-law Joe Brancato. The industry was not new to the Fenelons.…

105 Years CPV Manufacturing The CPV story is built on the enterprise of a farmer turned machinist – whose tradition of quality and craftsmanship remains the cornerstone in meeting the challenges of modern technology. In 1915, Isaiah G. Engle, a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer who had become a skilled machinist, started his own one-man business – manufacturing replacement valves for steam-driven reciprocating pumps. When centrifugal pumps came on stream, CPV pump valves were encased and transformed into silent check valves. To meet the need, CPV developed a unique line of soft-seated valves flat-faced O-ring sealed fittings known worldwide as the O-SEAL® SYSTEM.…

Lincoln Electric 125 years ago, a young electrical engineer by the name of John Cromwell Lincoln founded the Lincoln Electric Company on December 5, 1895, in Cleveland, Ohio. Lincoln invested $200 to develop his unique, direct current electric motor for industrial applications. What started as a spark of ingenuity flickered and gained momentum and the company has grown to become one of the most widely recognized and successful brands in the entire world today. John C. Lincoln and his brother and co-founder, James F. Lincoln, who joined John in 1907, continued to innovate, and in 1911 had invented and launched…

voestalpine Böhler Welding Böhler & Co was founded in 1870 in Vienna, Austria by brothers Emil Otto & Albert Friedrich Böhler. The Böhler brothers saw tremendous value in high quality steel and a great and underutilized market potential. The company has been in the welding consumables business since 1926. Böhler (which would later become Böhler Thyssen Welding) was integrated into the voestalpine Group as part of the Metal Engineering Division. Today, the company has been rebranded to voestalpine Böhler Welding, as part of voestalpine AG, one of the world’s leading specialty steel makers, bringing its comprehensive steel and welding expertise…

Wise Telemetry Wise Telemetry is celebrating its 5th Anniversary in 2020. Eric Wise founded the company based on research he had done at Carnegie Mellon University. He was initially focused on remote monitoring for medical oxygen cylinders due to family members who needed oxygen therapy. Through partnerships with local economic development organizations, investors, and gas distributors, Wise began to expand its view to include other assets in the gas industry such as bulk and microbulk tanks. According to Founder and CEO Eric Wise, “There have been three keys to our growth. The first has been our dedicated team who strives…

Commercial Miscellaneous Sales Commercial Miscellaneous Sales President Louis “Louie” Centofanti grew up around welding. His father and grandfather owned a shipyard and Louie developed a love for welding. When Centofanti graduated from college, he was interested in pursuing a career in welding and industrial supplies. “In the area we live, we’re dominated by major welding and industrial supply companies,” says Centofanti. “There was an opening for an independent. So, my father sold his shipyard and came on board with me.” The company was started in 2005. Today, Commercial Miscellaneous Sales services both the industrial supply market as well as the…

BTIC America BTIC America Corporation was established in Houston, Texas, in 1995. The company was actually founded as America Fortune Company, but began selling high pressure gas cylinders from Beijing Tianhai Industry Co., Ltd. (BTIC). That relationship grew and blossomed and eventually led America Fortune Company to become a subsidiary of BTIC. Thus, BTIC America Corporation (BAC) was formed. BTIC is one of the largest cylinder manufacturers and distributors in the world, and, together, BTIC and BAC represent more than seven different manufacturing facilities, offering a wide range of products for every cylinder need. BAC prides itself on offering “the…

Michigan Arc Products Michigan Arc Products (MAP) was established in 1970 by James Colosimo, Sr. to provide state-of-the-art welding technology to improve the manufacturing capabilities of Automotive OEM and Tier 1 suppliers. MAP provided the automotive industry with a professional technical sales force coupled with a highly skilled engineering department designed to provide welding process and procedure development management at a competitive price. Today, MAP is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. It has become one of North America’s premier suppliers of all grades of welding wire, welding equipment, welding robotics and comprehensive welding solutions. With regional warehouses throughout the U.S., Canada…

S.J. Smith Company S.J. Smith Company (Davenport, Iowa) is celebrating its 70th Anniversary in 2020. The company was established in 1950 by Sylvester and Helen Smith. Prior to opening S.J. Smith, Sylvester had experience in the industry selling welding supplies and gas for AIRCO. After AIRCO exited the distributor business, Sylvester and Helen continued to serve smaller accounts, while AIRCO handled the larger industrial accounts. In 1966, S.J. Smith bought the remaining welding supply business from AIRCO. In 1969, Richard Smith, Sylvester and Helen’s son, joined the company and eventually took over when Sylvester retired. Rich continued to expand the…

Welders Supply Company of Louisville outlined the steps it is taking to keep its customers and employees safe. Read the full update below or on the company’s website. 07/13/2020 Update to the practices we have implemented, and continue to follow during this time of pandemic. Your safety is our priority. Our employees are wearing face masks or coverings to protect you. Thank you to everyone for doing their part to keep everyone safe. Steps that we are taking to give you the best shopping experience. Limiting the number of customers in the showroom. All employees are using face masks or…

Fronius “I have opened a specialist repair shop for radios and electrical equipment at the Rankleiten hotel. All repairs are carried out by me personally at any time, both in my workshop or at your premises. I ask my valued customers to turn to me with complete confidence.”  With those simple words, Gunter Fronius marked the beginning of a journey that has encompassed the next 75 years. Fronius was started on June 20, 1945, in the Austrian market town of Pettenbach, where its headquarters still reside today. From its roots as a simple one-man radio repair shop in 1945, Fronius…

American Torch Tip Company In October 1940, Jack Walters, Sr. and his brother-in-law saw the need for quality replacement Torch Tips and created a new company called American Torch Tip Company. Walters was working as a plant manager for a competitor in Pittsburgh at the time when he decided to strike out on his own. To make his dream a reality, Walters sold torch tips during the day and went to work at the American Bridge Company at night. Today, American Torch Tip is in its third generation of family ownership. “Every generation has added to the company,” says Jack…

The company’s Somerset location will relocate in August. Read the full press release below or on the company’s website. To meet the increasing needs of our customers, our Somerset location will move to a larger location in late August. The new address is 530 Enterprise Dr. Somerset, KY 42501, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Geldof is an operations manager with Keen Compressed Gas Co. Read the full press release below or on the company’s website. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE (July 21, 2020) – Dave Geldof, Operations Manager at Keen Compressed Gas Co., recently celebrated his 50th year working for the company. In August 1970, Geldof began working for Harold Keen, brother of Keen Gas’s CEO, Merrill Keen, at Keen Service Shop, a separate entity from Keen Compressed Gas Co. At the shop Geldof worked with Harold repairing torches and regulators, and testing cylinders. The shop folded into Keen Compressed Gas Co. in 1972 when the New…

The IWDC is pleased to announce that effective, Monday, July 13, 2020, Vic Wilson joined the IWDC, reporting to Keith Werkley as the Southern Regional Sales Manager. In this role, he will be responsible for promoting IWDC’s value proposition to the Membership as well as driving profitable growth of our Vendor partner brands and Weldmark® brand. During Vic’s 27-year career he has held several positions from Inside Sales to General Manager and Shareholder of an independent welding distributor. Vic was an IWDC Member and sat on the Marketing Committee for 9 years. Vic has extensive knowledge of welding, welding supplies…

Thirty young propane professionals, who were nominated by others in the industry, have been selected as Charter Members of the Young Gassers’ 30 Under 30 Program. Each of these young adults will receive a variety of assignments, perks, and recognition within the propane industry for their participation. This is the inaugural year of the 30 Under 30 Program. Created by the International Association of Young Gassers in conjunction with the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) and the Canadian Propane Association (CPA), the program is meant in invest in, engage, and encourage young professionals working for companies directly involved in the propane…

Messer, the largest privately-owned industrial gases leader, announced that the company recently won three industry awards for their new digital web presence in the Americas. Messer’s enhanced websites earned the following honors for 2020: AVA Digital Awards – Gold Winner for planning, concept, direction, design and production of digital communication. MUSE Creative – Gold Award in the Corporate Website category; Silver Award in the Business-to-Business (B2B) website category. “These awards recognize our website as among the best in class for a corporate web presence in 2020,” said Gina Gibbs Foster, Vice President, Communications, Messer Americas. “The team at Messer is…

Read the full update below or on the company’s website. During the current COVID-19 emergency EspriGas is not taking orders by phone.  Please  place your order through your normal Procurement System, EspriGas’s secure online portal at portal.esprigas.com or by emailing [email protected].  If you need to reach Customer Service, please email us at [email protected].  We are working to respond to all orders and inquiries during business hours within 1 hour.

Read the full post below or on the company’s website. So, obviously dry ice is cold – but just how cold? A normal ice cube you may toss into your favorite beverage melts at 32 degrees Fahrenheit; Dry Ice sublimates, which is the transition from a solid phase to a gaseous phase while skipping the liquid phase, at -109.3 degrees Fahrenheit! This extremely low temperature is enough to freeze your cells with prolonged contact, causing injuries very similar to that of a burn. Typically, minor burns can be treated with some over the counter antibiotic ointment and a band-aid. However,…

Click here to learn how Norco, Inc. is addressing medical customers, industrial customers and medical facilities.