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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…