Year: 2021

The AWS Foundation offers four National Educator Scholarships, ranging from $2,500 – $4,500. ➡ Deadline is April 1st, apply today! https://t.co/TfjbsiaCnF 🔹#americanweldingsociety #weldingisAWSome #welding #welder #stem #scholarship pic.twitter.com/mKoIPBTZRR — AWS.org (@AWSHQ) March 3, 2021

F&M MAFCO, a leading international supplier of tools and equipment rental, sales, and service programs, announced the opening of an expansive facility in Kansas City, Missouri. This recent opening comes three months after the opening of its Evansville, Indiana facility. According to Tim Fries, COO of F&M MAFCO, “We are very excited about the opening of our Kansas City facility. It gives us an important foothold in the region as we grow our strategic tool management programs across both our current and prospective customer bases.” He added, “Both our StrikeForce and NEXT S.T.E.P. complete tool management outsourcing programs continue to…

Holston Gases is proud to announce the ground-breaking of a $3,000,000 construction project at its Kentucky region headquarter in Louisville, KY. Holston will be expanding its current site by building a Welcoa-designed fully automated cylinder fill plant. This project will double the size of the current facility while significantly increasing its specialty gas capabilities. The new facility will improve Holston’s capabilities to service its current customers across its 10 Kentucky locations while allowing for future growth and expansion into the lower Midwest. 

There is good news on the horizon and companies find themselves gearing up to bring back employees and hire additional staff. As the vaccines for COVID-19 are approved and people are immunized, we look forward to getting back to work on a broader scale. The pandemic, however, has left a lot of upheaval in its wake. I recently spoke to a newly appointed VP of Sales who said his first challenge was to replace 4 of the 6 regional sales managers at his company. Imagine the cost and emotional impact of such a dramatic transition. It is expensive to find…

I have had the opportunity to travel all over the country during my 50 years in the welding supply business. And I consider myself fortunate to have seen just about every kind of leader/boss you could possibly imagine. I have seen some extraordinary leaders, the kind that people want to run through walls for, and I have also seen my fair share of bad leaders, as well. You can usually tell the quality of a leader without even having to meet them. You can tell within minutes of walking through the door. Are the employees courteous, upbeat and generally happy…

By Jay Spielvogel, Venator Sales Group, LLC “The greatest sales call our new reps make is on us during the interview. Everything goes down-hill once we hire them.” “At best, our new salespeople are glorified pre-sales relationship managers. They deliver quotes and proposals without any qualifying or critical thinking.” Unfortunately, these are all too common complaints we hear from sales managers across the globe. In truth, very rarely is the interview a “great” sales call on the part of the sales rep. More likely, it was simply the culmination of a “bad” buying process, where we end up getting exactly…

Throughout the pandemic, some companies have thrived, while others have struggled; but one thing is certain, the case for a better user experience has been given a shot in the arm. Outside sales teams have become inside sales teams; and customers that continue to work remote will help to keep it that way. Whether or not it’s logical that your business transact online, prospects expect to find the information they need on your website – without your help. The ability to advance the sales process toward, and perhaps including, completing an online transaction is now a requirement. People Want E-commerce/Online…

By Mike Marks, Indian River Consulting Group As the global pandemic marches on, small business owners might be looking at their 2020 business plan and wondering if it’s even worth putting a plan together for 2021. It’s tempting for business owners to want to stay light on their feet and be ready to pivot as things change. But companies that are accountable to shareholders can’t get away with that. Shareholders need to know what to expect and understand the risks they face in 2021. Despite the uncertainty of the markets, uncertain supply chains, massive changes in customer sourcing behaviors, and…

By Steve Guglielmo and Brian Beaulieu GAWDA Chief Economist Brian Beaulieu is renowned throughout GAWDA for his clear-eyed forecasting and straightforward presentation. As CEO of ITR Economics, his track record for forecasting our industry is unmatched. At GAWDA Conventions and SMCs, his presentations are widely anticipated and GAWDA members have spoken at length about how they use the reports from ITR Economics in their own company projections. Throughout this year, which will come to be remembered for the havoc that COVID wreaked on our economy, Brian and his team have said at every turn that our businesses would recover quickly.…

By John Campbell and Maura Garvey We all experienced hardship and some real loss during 2020 with COVID-19. However, our industrial gas business pitched in to the treatment of COVID with strenuous efforts by providing significantly increased O2 to hospitals during the surges in cases and hospitalizations. That additional O2 assisted in treatment of the terrible patient breathing affliction with increases in O2 respiratory therapy and with higher volumes softening the very difficult intubation procedures. That O2 service will continue with the second surge well into 2021. In mid-December, the fast development of the first COVD vaccines by Pfizer-bioNTech (Pfizer)…