Author: Steve Guglielmo

FMCSA Head of Enforcement Discusses New HOS Rule. On an industry webinar held August 27, head of the Federal Moto Carrier Safety Administraiton’s Office of Enforcement Joe Delorenzo discussed the upcoming changes the agency’s driver hours of service rule. The new requirements are scheduled to go into effect on September 29, 2020. Mr. Delorenzo said the FMCSA estimates the new changes will save the industry $270 million per year in compliance costs. Short-haul drivers. The new rules allow a CDL or non-CDL driver to operate within a 150 air-mile radius and return to the work reporting location within 14 hours…

The Compressed Gas Association (CGA) announced on LinkedIn that it is moving its office.

Harris designed a new set of equipment with Camo Regulators and a Special Ammo box. When you purchase the @HarrisProducts Camo Kit, the proceeds will support a veteran through the @workforwarriors program! pic.twitter.com/TsqoSF2dp0 — Atlas Welding Supply (@atlaswsco) July 31, 2020 Other August 15 Connection Items: In Memoriam: James McGarry McKenna Jim O’Connor Retires from Norton Company EspriGas Promotes Schrantz, Expands Role of Sawyer Butler Gas Products Opens New Location Holston Gases Acquires Todays Gases A COVID-19 Update from Haun Welding Supply Airgas Offers Free Welding Classes for Teachers George Ratermann’s Number One Message to Customers CPV Manufacturing Introduces Game…

GAWDA extends its condolences to the friends and family of James McGarry McKenna, who passed away on Friday, July 31, 2020, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 86. James was the beloved husband for over 62 years of Marie Staab McKenna;  loving father to daughters Linda Smith (husband Gary), Carol Lee Woodley (husband Dan), Mari Beth King (husband Rob), and son Garry McKenna, Jr;  proud grandfather of Tyler King (wife Anna), Courtney Smith Massee (husband Luke), Kara King Brunelle (husband Parker), Colby Woodley (deceased), Kelsey King, Leah Woodley, Morgan Smith, and McKenna Woodley, and proud great-grandfather to…

In times of economic turmoil, GAWDA members have long turned to the association’s Chief Economist Brian Beaulieu and his team at ITR Economics. ITR, which produces a quarterly report for GAWDA members each quarter (this quarter’s can be seen on pages 106-117), hosted a members-only podcast entitled Looking Past the Fear and The Noise: 2020-2022. Alex Chausovsky, ITR’s Director of Speaking Services, hosted the webinar, a recording of which can be found on GAWDA.org’s Member’s Only section in the ITR folder. Alex spent the hour-long recording explaining the impact that the “Dual Black Swan Events” of COVID-19 and the collapse…

In the 4th Quarter 2019 issue of Welding & Gases Today, we debuted a new feature called “Search Engine Trends for the Gases & Welding Industry.” This feature is designed to help readers understand the terms and searches that are ranking highly in Google Trends. Part of developing a comprehensive digital marketing campaign is understanding how customers and potential customers are using the Internet to find your products and your website. The graphs and information below all come from Google Trends, which analyzes the popularity of search queries in Google Search across various regions and languages. The graphs scale “Interest…

The gases and welding industry is an integral part of our everyday lives. Of course, GAWDA members already understood that. But now it has been officially codified by the United States government and other governments around the world. When the COVID-19 pandemic started to become more wide-spread, the entire business landscape changed. Some businesses had to shut down completely. Others, deemed as “essential services,” were forced to figure out, on the fly, how to operate in a way that allowed them to continue to service their customers without putting their staff in danger. Many GAWDA members have had to deal…

On March 27, 2020, the American Welding Society’s (AWS) Board of Directors announced Gary Konarska II as the organization’s new Executive Director and CEO. Konarska succeeded Ray Shook, who held the position for 15 years and who agreed to remain as Executive Director Emeritus for an interim period to ensure a seamless and successful transition. Konarska brings 20 years of experience in the welding and cutting equipment industry, where he worked with Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio. Most recently, Konarska served as Vice President, Global Automation, where he was responsible for 13 automation sites around the world and…

This year is a milestone year for GAWDA, as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary. Throughout 2020, we will be celebrating our roots, all while looking forward to ensuring that the next 75 years are as productive and impactful as the first. In the 1st Quarter 2020 issue of Welding & Gases Today, we ran a “Trip Down Memory Lane” 75 Years of GAWDA timeline on pages 50 and 51. In the 2nd Quarter 2020 issue, we revisited the formation and official founding of the National Welding Supply Association (NWSA), which would later become GAWDA, as well as looked back at…

F&M MAFCO is founded on the values of G.R.I.T. GRIT stands for: Goal Oriented, Responsibility, Integrity, and Teamwork. Those timeless values remain unchanged since the company’s founding in 1945. Those simple values, combined with an entrepreneurial spirit that still lives on in the company today, helped propel F&M MAFCO from two men in a garage re-selling Army Surplus supplies to a distributorship that today encompasses nearly 300 employees in 10 branches around the world. In September 1945, Robert McKenna, Sr. was discharged from the Army Air Corps. following World War II. McKenna and his wife, Mary, moved in with her…