Sutton-Garten Co.
Sutton-Garten Company is celebrating its 105th anniversary in 2023. The company began in 1918 when Charles Sutton and Ray Garten, two Union Carbide employees, were given the right to establish a Prest-O-Lite distributorship for the state of Indiana in Indianapolis. Aside from selling small acetylene cylinders and gas equipment, Sutton-Garten also installed gas lighting systems on cars and trucks and maintained a welding repair shop.
“We have been able to grow and evolve the company by embracing the changes in our market,” says President Pat Garten. “Both new products from our vendors and changes in our customer needs. We have also been able to diversify our customer base.”
The company has also thrived for more than a century due, in large part, to its family-owned values and culture.
“We are a family-owned company,” says Garten. “And we treat our customers, vendors and employees as we would treat family: with open and honest dealing and being fair to all concerned.”
Today, Sutton-Garten has three locations: its headquarters in Indianapolis, a dry ice production facility also in Indianapolis, and a branch in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The company has been quick to adapt to new technology, noting, “Changes in the technology of welding has driven the evolution of the welding industry – from just gas welding and cutting to electric stick welders, tig and mig machines, plasma cutting equipment, and now robotic welding equipment. Adapting to these changes has meant that our employees are continually updated on the latest equipment and processes, and we value the training offered by our suppliers.”
Concludes Garten, “Sutton-Garten intends to remain an independent supplier of welding and cutting products and gases for the welding and beverage industries. We also seek to expand our dry ice production capacity. Long term we need to keep doing what we’re doing – just get better and better at it.”
Congratulations to all GAWDA members celebrating milestone anniversaries in 2023.
GAWDA members represent the best-of-the-best companies in the gases and welding industries. Each year in the Summer issue, we recognize those GAWDA Members celebrating milestone anniversaries. In the Q3 issue’s President’s Column, GAWDA President Robert Anders explored the three C’s of longevity. We want to add a fourth C for this column: Congratulations to all those GAWDA members celebrating anniversaries this year! And if you have a milestone anniversary coming up in 2024 and would like to be featured in this column next year, please reach out today at steveg@gawdamedia.com
