Author: Steve Guglielmo

O2 Plus was started in 1996 by two brothers. Rodger Miles was a pharmacist who began the company with his brother, Harold Miles, who owned a heavy equipment rental company at the time. Company President Shane Miles, Rodger’s grandson, joined the company in 1998 while he was attending college. “I joined the company by accident,” Shane says. “I was in college, and I had a CDL from having worked for my uncle.” Eight years after joining the company by accident, Shane became President of O2 Plus in 2006. The company has since grown by adding a second branch in 2011…

Weld Plus was founded in 1991 by Jack Schroeder and Paul Rensing in the basement of Jack’s home. The company set out as a welding gas and consumable supplier offering “same day delivery” to their customer base. This meant hand delivering day or night to keep their promise and win the loyalty of their customers, most of whom are still with the company today! Throughout the years Weld Plus has adapted to sell, rent, service and refurbish new and used welding equipment. In 2001, after 10 years in business and three locations later, a new 44,000 square foot warehouse and…

In 1990, Tim Robb, President of Torco Supply Co., Inc. was attending Shippensburg University and serving in the Navy Seabees as a reservist. His unit was set to be activated for Desert Storm, so Robb took a leave of absence from school for the fall semester, when his deployment was canceled. However, Tim’s father, Tom Robb, who was working as a Certainium Alloys representative and was a Navy Corpsman Chief in the Reserves, was activated to go to Norway to take the place of a unit that was heading to Desert Storm. “My father was going to be gone for…

Complete Welders Supply was founded in Sonoma in 1991 by Mike and Melissa Kowaleski with Carl Watkins and a few dedicated employees. Together, the group built the company and expanded it services and expanded to the company’s Napa location that today serves as Complete Welders Supply’s headquarters. “It was the focus on building relationships and meeting the customers’ needs that propelled us to our future success,” says President and Owner Mike Kowaleski. “We have been able to grow by developing quality relationships and providing the services that our customers need to be successful in their business. We focus our efforts…

Roberts Oxygen Company, Inc. was founded on July 1, 1966, by Bill Roberts and his wife, Peg Roberts. Bill began his career following in the footsteps of his father, who had worked for National Cylinder Gas and Air Reduction while Bill was growing up. Bill worked in sales for Air Reduction for a few years until World War II. Serving in the Army Corps of Engineers, Bill rose to the rank of Major before leaving the Army after WWII from his last posting in Washington, D.C. Bill then went to work in sales for Southern Oxygen, a regional gas manufacturer…

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…

SOS Gases, Inc. (Kearny, New Jersey) was established on February 1, 1961, by John A. De Fillipps, Robert Saxon and Robert Stone. 60 Years later, the company still operates as a family business, as Steven C. De Fillipps and Carmen J. De Fillipps have owned and operated the company for the past 35 years. “Our company has been able to grow and thrive for the past 60 years by having good employees, who have been dedicated to the company for many years,” says Steven De Fillipps. Today, the company operates out of its Kearny, New Jersey headquarters and has 21…

When Van T. (Sam) Young returned home from World War II, he wanted to get into a similar business as his brother, VB Young, who ran a radiator repair business in Columbus, Mississippi. VB helped Sam get started in the radiator repair business in 1946, in Sheffield, Alabama. But, as Sam’s business increased, his customers started asking to buy the products he was using. And so, the welding supply business was born. Sam’s son, Bobby Young, grew up around the business and, after serving in the U.S. Navy, he eventually worked his way through the company and became CEO. During…

Cee Kay Supply, Inc. is proud to announce the formation of its new Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) designed to provide 49% stock benefits to the 135 employees. Cee Kay Supply now joins a group of over 6,500+ U.S. companies that are currently operating as ESOPs including the 171 in Missouri & 137 in Illinois. The transaction has also included additional operating companies Gateway Cylinder Technologies, ArchView Carbonic and CryoGas CO2 to create the newly formed employee-owned entity CK Supply, Inc. Tom Dunn, past CEO and Owner stated, “The employees have always been at the center of growth & success…

Welders Supply was founded in 1946 by Jack Raimy in Erie, Pennsylvania. Initially, the company was a small, two-man operation. Three-quarters of a century later, the company has grown exponentially, now having two locations and 25 employees. The company is also in its third-generation leadership, as Jack’s sons, Bruce and Gary, joined Welders Supply out of college, and his grandson, Mark, joined the company in 2005, after 16 years in the world of finance. Through the years, Welders Supply has become tightly intertwined with the Erie business and local communities. “Erie is a pretty provincial place,” says CEO Mark Raimy.…