Author: GAWDA MEDIA

Service Only a Family-Owned Business Can Supply How California Tool & Welding Supply has evolved since 1976. In 1976, Robert C. Craig (Bob Jr.) worked for his father, Bob Sr., at his welding supply company in Duarte, California. Bob and Rick Davis decided to set out on their own and opened California Tool & Welding Supply out of a wooden shed on a dusty sand lot with a few bottles of compressed gases, an oxygen cascade system, and a small selection of hard goods. But what they lacked in resources, they more than made up for in vision. The motto…

Final GAWDA Consultant Roundtable for 2024 By Tom Badstubner, Marilyn Dempsey, Michael Dodd, Rick Schweitzer, and Steve Guglielmo The GAWDA Consultant Program is a GAWDA member benefit that is included as part of your member dues to the association. It is consistently rated as one of the most valuable member benefits that GAWDA provides. Between the four of them GAWDA’s consultants bring more than 150 years of industry-specific experience to the association. The GAWDA Consultants will be on-hand in Phoenix at the GAWDA Annual Convention to discuss the flurry of regulatory activity that has been handed down in summer 2024.…

New committee to shed light on 21st century issues facing all GAWDA Members By Steve Guglielmo, John Vrana and Hector Villarreal During the 2024 GAWDA Spring Management Conference, GAWDA debuted its brand-new Technology Committee. The Committee will be co-chaired by Red Ball Oxygen’s John Vrana and Weldcoa’s Hector Villarreal and will tackle some of the industry’s greatest looming threats and challenges including cyber security, automation and AI. We were lucky enough to be able to interview John and Hector during the SMC for an interview that aired in the May 1st episode of GAWDA TV. To see the full interview,…

Newcomers’ Reception After making the difficult decision to move the Newcomers Reception inside due to the more than 100-degree heat, the Newcomers Reception kicked the Convention off in style, as more than 100 GAWDA New Members, Past Presidents, and members of GAWDA’s Member Services Committee gathered in the Wildflower Ballroom to mix and mingle and show off their hand in a fierce putting contest. Winners from last night’s putting contest will even bring home some hardware and be recognized from the stage during tomorrow’s Opening General Business Session, so stay tuned! Thank you to all who came and all who…

The purpose of Ask Your Board is to ask common business questions that all GAWDA members might be dealing with and to see how GAWDA’s Board of Directors are dealing with these issues within their own companies. To submit a question for GAWDA’s Board Members to consider, please email [email protected]

By Gary Halter and Steve Guglielmo Gary Halter officially took the oath of office as GAWDA President in Maui, Hawaii in 2023. Since then, he has devoted each day as President to fulfilling his promise of “Leading with Purpose and Serving with Heart.” When he took the office of President, Gary laid out his agenda as President, coming back to the acronym IMPACT Leadership. Now, as Gary prepares to hand the baton of President off to Eric Wood in Phoenix, we had the opportunity to speak with Gary during the Northeast Regional Meeting as he reflected on this long and…

Craig Wood GAWDA President 2012-2013 O.E. Meyer Company Obviously, this is a very special year for our entire family at the 2024 Annual Convention. It’s an honor to have this opportunity to share my thoughts as one of a long list of Past Presidents who have unselfishly served in this role. Back in 1997, Rod Belden and I made a trip to Wisconsin, hosted by Bill Higley on a fact-finding mission, while we were preparing to break ground on a new facility. We spent a couple of days with Bill. He was clearly instrumental in our master plan! As he…

Making the Most out of Networking 360 At the 2022 GAWDA Annual Convention in San Diego, the GAWDA Industry Partnering Committee debuted the “Networking 360” program. The event was conceived as a sort of “speed dating” for GAWDA distributors and suppliers to be able to network in a more controlled and intimate environment than the hustle and bustle of the Contact Booth Program. The Event premiered to great fanfare, as 105 supplier members had the opportunity to spend 5-minute sessions with 53 distributor members who participated. “I would pay my entire dues for the year, just to attend this event,”…