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GAWDA’s consultants discuss how to prepare for an audit as well as other recent trends in the gases and welding industry 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. For this issue, we spoke with the consultants about a variety of topics,…

What are the things that I need to do to hire a driver? How fast can I put a new driver on the road? What items do I need to have in my hands before letting a driver go out on the road? What should I look for on the motor violation records when deciding to hire a driver? What minimums should I have for hiring a driver? These are some of the questions that I get when someone is trying to put on a new driver. The following guidance assumes that you want a driver for loads requiring placards.…

How GAWDA consultants can help GAWDA members avoid costly mistakes 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 annual dues to the association. It is consistently rated as one of the most valuable member benefits that GAWDA provides. Between the four to them, GAWDA’s Consultants bring more than 100 years of industry-specific experience to the association. For this issue, we spoke to the Consultants about specific examples of times where they were able to help GAWDA members save money and…

By Paul Bernier and David O’Guin With many years of experience in the Industrial Gas/Welding supply industry, I have learned that many companies do not truly offer safety services and supplies in their product mix. It is understandable, since the margins are not in line with what we enjoy in gases. But, if you are not providing safety products to your industrial customers, who is? Our main marketing objective is to try and provide as many products as possible to our customers, adding more line items to our invoices, truly striving to be a one-stop provider, as much as possible.…

By Deanna Pelligrino Now, more than ever, we rely on the digital world to keep our businesses moving. But with the ever-increasing use of email, social media and other forms of digital communication comes equally increasing concerns about keeping our information safe. Here are a few tips! 1. When in doubt, delete! Follow your gut. If you receive something and wonder, “Why am I getting this?” there’s probably a good reason to be suspicious. Don’t click on links or open attachments from emails or senders that you’re not expecting. The damage that could be done from opening a malicious link…

2021 will see the return of two Regional Meetings after all were postponed in 2020. The 2021 Spring Management Conference and Annual Convention will not be the only opportunities for GAWDA members to network and learn in-person in 2021. After all the 2020 Regional Meetings were postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19, this year will see the return of the Northwest Regional Meeting in Sunriver, Oregon, from July 21-23, and the Seven Springs Regional Meeting in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, from August 24-26. Previously scheduled Regional Meetings in League City, Texas (Southwest Region), Galloway, New Jersey (Northeast Region), and Oregon, Ohio…

In response to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) continues to shift how we operate. We are committed to meeting our members where they are in this moment – whether they’re working from home, in the office, on the road, or on the manufacturing floor. As we move into 2021, we will continue to focus on providing industry leadership in support of our safety mission, while adopting new ways to effectively get our work done and best serve our members, our valued partners including GAWDA, and the compressed gas industry as a whole. The…

By Gary Konarska, Executive Director and CEO of the American Welding Society (AWS) During times of crisis, good business leaders control the factors they can, adapt readily and plan for life post-crisis. Our industry successfully controlled its destiny by ensuring that welding, cutting and related companies were deemed “essential businesses.” As a result, comparatively more workers retained their jobs. One might think the pandemic temporarily alleviated the shortage of skilled welders, but it actually exacerbated it in many instances, such as when one person testing positive required an entire department to self-isolate. Lack of a stable workforce has hindered organizations…

The following are responses from GAWDA suppliers across North America about what they expect to see in 2021. To see video interviews for those suppliers who participated, visit the GAWDA Media channel on YouTube or check buyersguide.gawdamedia.com to see individual company responses with embedded videos. Thank you so much to all who participated! Weldcoa expects sales to be up in 2021. “The disruptions that occurred this year didn’t cancel any projects. It put them on hold,” says President and Co-Owner Hector Villarreal. “In fact, it sped some of them up. But ultimately, I think a lot of projects that were…

I have spent the last year writing articles for Welding & Gases Today talking about my experiences working in the gases and welding industry and specifically working within the dynamics of a family business. In my last article, “Tips for Young People Considering Joining the Family Business,” I spoke at length about the transition process for a family business. As we all know, family businesses make up a huge percentage of GAWDA’s memberships and the transition process can be a difficult thing for both the younger and older generation to go through. As I said in my last article, working…

by Mike Marks and Dan Horan,  Indian River Consulting Group As practices continue to shift, there are two trends distributors should be paying close attention to in today’s market. One is understanding the role of technology, and the other is attracting and retaining talent. Attracting and Keeping Talent Recruiting qualified talent is no easy task. There is always a generational tension between the way “things used to be” and “how it is today.” The tensions between mature leaders and young professionals remain the same. Distributors must revisit their recruitment strategies to reflect these different perspectives. Training and education opportunities must…

Improvements Are Required inCommunications Between Manufacturer, Distributor and the Customer by J. R. (Buzz) Campbell & Ken Thompson In this article, we’ll look at what’s happened in the U.S. economy relative to our Gases and Hardgoods (HG) business, make a quick review of three of the biggest Gas Majors’ first calendar half for 2020 (H1/20) financial reports, review some key products and markets affected by the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID), and discuss new challenges in selling and the need for further integration of communications between the manufacturer, distributor and customer in Hardgoods. According to the July 30, 2020, U.S. Bureau of…

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…

The following is an excerpt from the GAWDA Safety Organizer, a monthly bulletin sent to GAWDA members. For more information on the GAWDA Safety Organizer, or to read past issues, visit the GAWDA.org Members-Only Section Hazards exist everywhere: Viruses, noise, chemicals, falling objects, slippery surfaces/uneven surfaces and sharp objects. Employers are required by regulation to protect employees from known and potential hazards in the workplace. The General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970, 29 USC 654(a)(1), requires employers to furnish to each worker “employment and a place of employment, which are free…

How COVID-19 has impacted GAWDA members and what will need to be done as businesses reopen. By Steve Guglielmo, Tom Badstubner, Marilyn Dempsey, Michael Dodd and Rick Schweitzer By the time that this issue hits your desk, it might feel like the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted forever. It may even be that the economy in your state has largely reopened. But the fallout from this crisis will last far beyond the initial lockdown and reopening. And, though businesses may have returned to some semblance of normalcy, the virus has not been eradicated. We may deal with a “second wave” or,…

Before I get started, I have to come clean. Anybody that is reading the title of this article and expecting something that sounds like it came out of the Harvard Business Review or the Wall Street Journal is going to be very disappointed. I went to Texas Tech, not Harvard or Yale. But what I lack in high-powered, fancy advice, I make up for in experience. I’ve spent 50 years in this ‘bidness’ and I’ve found the five things that I think anybody in our industry needs to do to be successful. I’ve worked in the welding industry since I…

By Bill McCloy, Managing Director, AmWINS Program Underwriters, Welding DistributorPro Insurance Program Your business has suffered a loss – a natural disaster or a fire.  So much of how you respond after a loss is predicated on how well you’ve prepared prior to a loss.  Ask yourself these questions: Have you developed an Emergency Response Plan or Disaster Recovery Plan?  Do you have inventory lists, plot maps, vehicle registrations, accounts receivable and payable, or key contact information documented and backed up?  Is your back-up secured off site?   Do you have a dedicated individual accountable for coordinating the response if…

By Mike Marks, Managing Partner of Indian River Consulting Group Back in the day, the path to distributor growth was to sell service with excellent people. Sales reps sold themselves first and customers bought from reps that had earned their trust based on their past performance. A key driver in the customer value proposition was their relationship with their own sales rep, not the company. Supply chains were unreliable and heroic recoveries were visible and common. The reps were paid a commission on the gross margin they generated so they could “eat what they killed.” The sales force was self-directed…

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 this issue, as we preview this year’s new and improved SMC, we look back on fun SMC moments from throughout our history on page 44. We also have made apparel…

GAWDA’s Spring Management Conference (SMC) will take place April 5-7, 2020, at the JW Marriott Austin in Austin, Texas. This year, the association has opted for a new format that we hope will be more inclusive for management at all levels of the company. As this is the first year of the new format, we have received questions from the membership about the new-look SMC. 2020 GAWDA President Abydee Butler Moore addressed these FAQ’s below. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to GAWDA headquarters or visit gawda.org/spring-management-conference. What was the reason for the change…