Author: Steve Guglielmo

Charles W. Miller, age 87, died on September 12, 2019. Charlie’s journey with Butler Gas began in 1963 when he married Janice Butler. Janice’s father, Tom Butler, and his brother, Jack Butler, each owned businesses in the gas and welding supply industry- Butler Cylinder Gas in Reading (Tom’s company) and Butler Gas Products in Pittsburgh (Jack’s company). Both Tom and Jack’s companies succeeded to the 2nd generation, with Charlie and Janice running Butler Cylinder Gas in Reading. Back in Pittsburgh, Jack was diagnosed with cancer and began quickly teaching his son Jack the business. Before he died in 1977, Jack…

ORS NASCO Launches Next Chapter of Growth as an Independent Business One Equity Partners (“OEP”), a middle market private equity firm, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of ORS Nasco, from Essendant, Inc. in a corporate carve-out transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ORS Nasco is North America’s leading wholesaler of industrial and safety supplies selling exclusively to distributors throughout North America. ORS Nasco offers access to over 200,000 skus of premium products from more than 600 brands for use in the industrial, welding, energy, safety, electrical, construction, HVAC, MRO, PVF, plumbing, janitorial, and rental…

Cyl-Tec hired Sally Turner to be its Marketing Manager. In this position, Turner will be responsible for providing support for the sales team by providing critical sales collateral, multimedia resources and creative leadership. She will be a vital member of Cyl-Tec’s management team for strategic business development in direction, planning and growth of the company. Turner will  also utilize compelling marketing strategies and cohesive design that construct the “face” of the company. Other primary responsibilities include: development of marketing strategies for corporate branding, print layout and design, website design, SEO, video production, social media, email marketing and trade show display. She…

The 2019 IWDC Owners’ Meeting will take place from Tuesday, October 22 – Friday, October, 25, 2019 at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, Florida. The IWDC Owners Meeting is an IWDC member-exclusive event consisting of various business sessions, roundtables, seminars, and networking receptions. Owners can expect to listen in on economic and industry-related speakers that broach topics such as profits, performance, national competition, independent companies, mergers and acquisitions, and much more. IWDC provides an environment where owners can come together and learn about each other’s business, share insight into their respective marketplaces and industries, and network…

GAWDA will have a booth set up at FABTECH 2019, which runs from November 11-14, 2019, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. GAWDA will be at Booth B33080 Make sure to stop by and meet with the GAWDA team. Let them know if there is anything you’ve seen or heard on the floor that would be newsworthy. As one of the largest industry shows in the world, FABTECH is a great place to potentially recruit new GAWDA members. If you notice a distributor or supplier on the floor that you believe would be a good addition to the GAWDA membership,…

Minneapolis Oxygen launched its new website. The new site will feature a new blog from “The Gas Guy.” In his first blog post, the Gas Guy said, “I’ll be here every month giving you news and information as I see it. Like the insurance commercials say, I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two—the only thing here longer than me is the company itself. Minneapolis Oxygen has been around since 1946 offering gas supply and service that you can rely on.” The new Minneapolis Oxygen website has two sections: informational and an e-store. Whether you…

Keen Compressed Gas Co. is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. A three-day celebratory event is scheduled for October 17th, 18th and 19th at Keen’s headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. Each day will consist of an open house and vendor trade show along with live demonstrations, a variety of seminars on the industry’s hottest topics, food and give-a-ways. Vendors have donated items from welding machines, welding apparel, gift cards and so much more to be gifted to random winning attendees. Keen will also provide commemorative items to attendees. Over 30 top industry manufacturer representatives will be in attendance including Miller Electric, Hypertherm,…

AWISCO’s Dennis Bicocchi attended the Maurer Foundation’s annual Pink Diamond Gala on Wednesday, October 2nd, with wife Nancy. This year’s event honored Founder and President of El Sol Contracting, Bob Pomponio and raised over $270,000! AWISCO is proud to continuously support the Maurer Foundation’s mission to save lives through breast health education. AWISCO is happy to partner with vendors who are passionate about a good cause. As part of that effort to combat breast cancer, AWISCO offers several pink products that aid in breast cancer research and education. Here are just a few of those products. Other October 15 Connection…

Newsweek Magazine, in its Sept 27, 2019 issue, has released the results of its survey of more than 9,500 online shops in the United States, compiled by Statista.  “The online shops were then organized according to their main product offering into 39 categories and subjected to testing by Newsweek analysts on 48 objective and subjective criteria.”  Based on these results, a score out of 10.00 was determined for each online shop. In the category of “DIY, Tools, Supplies,” www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com ranked 5th overall, ahead of the online sites for:  Lowes, Home Depot, and True Value.  It also ranked above any other…

FMCSA Opens Registration for Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has opened registration for motor carriers and drivers to participate in the agency’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.  The clearinghouse final rule goes into effect on January 6, 2020. On and after that date, all companies that use drivers who have a Commercial Driver’s License or a Commercial Learner’s Permit must do four things: Register with the FMCSA to use the clearinghouse.  Registration is now available on the FMCSA website. Upload information to the Clearinghouse on any drug or alcohol violations by any CDL driver that your…