WESCO Gas & Welding Supply, Inc. started in 1961 in Prichard, Alabama. Five years later, Ron Pierce joined the company as a registered Professional Engineer. In 1974, with the support of his family, he bought out his partner and became President and CEO. For the next four decades the company grew from one location to eleven providing quality welding, industrial, and safety supplies, as well as medical, industrial, and specialty gases.
Ron Pierce passed away in 2021, at the age of 87. His legacy lives on at WESCO, as the entire Pierce family works in the family business. Jenny McCall is President, Judy Miller is Director of Marketing, Jeff Pierce is Director of Safety, and Greg Pierce is Shipyard Specialist.
WESCO’s mission is to be the primary provider of quality products and services in the welding related industry. Even the company’s name is a nod to that mission.
A Willing, Experience, Successful, Competitive Organization.
“Our focus is to give our customers the best service before and after the sale,” says Director of Marketing Judy Miller. “Don’t take any shortcuts. You’ll never win, if you do and you will lose the customer.”
Today, WESCO has 11 locations in four states and 105 employees. In the 60 years since the company was founded, it has seen an evolution in the business that it has had to adapt to in order to continue to thrive.
“It’s not just about product and price anymore. Today’s challenges require innovative, profitable, solutions to our customers,” says Miller. “We hire top talent; provide on-going training, and invest in technology to better service our customers. We study the trends and see what makes sense for our business. The right trends can help you reach new customers and make more sales. For example, this summer we are investing in new state-of-art Cylinder Fill Plant. We have seen significant growth in our gas business and our existing equipment could not keep up with the supply and demand. This new state-of-art facility will be ready in June.”
The company also purchased a new ERP system that it plans to have up and running early next year. And it doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon.
“We continue to diversity into new business opportunities and expand so we can be competitive in the marketplace,” Miller concludes.
