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| A Semi-Monthly Newsletter for the Gases and Welding Distributors Association |
December 23, 2007
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BREAKING NEWS
On December 5, a jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned a substantial verdict in favor of the plaintiffs in the Tamraz case and awarded a total of $20.5 million against the welding rod manufacturers. The jury found in favor of the plaintiffs on their negligence and strict liability claims, but in favor of the defendants on the fraudulent concealment counts. The verdict did not contain an award for punitive damages. No distributors were defendants in the Tamraz case at the time of trial. The jury deliberated for more than eight days and reported they were deadlocked at one point before reaching a verdict. The defendants plan to appeal. Tamraz was the first and only welding fume case to be tried in 2007. The industry won all six welding fume trials in 2006. Tamraz is only the second jury trial plaintiffs have won, and comes four years after plaintiffs' other win in the Elam case. Defendants have won 16 of the last 18 welding fume cases tried. The next welding fume case scheduled to go to trial is the Andre case, set for January 9, 2008, in Louisiana state court. Jowers, the next scheduled MDL trial, is currently set for February 4 in Mississippi. The Countdown Is On If you have not paid your annual membership dues, the privileges of association membership will cease for you on January 1. No more access to GAWDA consultants! No Welding & Gases Today! No Safety Organizer! No semi-monthly newsletter! No network! No Edge! No Spring Management Conferences! The clock is ticking. Pay your annual dues today! Go to www.gawda.org and click on "Members Only."
NEW MEMBERS GAWDA welcomes new Supplier Member Broco Inc., of Rancho Cucamonga, CA.
INDUSTRY
BEAT
GasServ Businesses from Harsco Sold; TWI Welcomes New Ownership (Mechanicsburg, PA) • Wind Point Partners, a private equity investment firm, acquired the Harsco GasServ group of gas technology businesses from Harsco Corporation. The acquisition includes Taylor-Wharton, compressed gas cylinders and cryogenic storage vessels; American Welding & Tank, propane tanks; Structural Composites Industries, filament wrapped composite cylinders and Sherwood precision valve products. The four complementary businesses will operate collectively as Taylor-Wharton International (TWI). Robert E. Gadomski has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer for TWI. The majority of the existing management team will remain in place as TWI's management team. Gadomski worked at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. for 34 years, most recently as executive vice president of the Gases and Equipment Group. After three years of consulting and university teaching, he is excited to return to the challenge of business building. He says, "Wind Point is delighted to own the TWI businesses and will step up investment in innovative new products, improved services and manufacturing efficiencies. We will invest to improve TWI's relationships and technical capabilities. Our strategic approach to expanding TWI's worldwide footprint will also include future growth through acquisition." Taylor-Wharton International operates 19 manufacturing, sales, warehouse and service facilities in 6 countries and markets its products in over 80 countries.
Hoffman Joins Gas Innovations (Houston, TX) • Jim Hoffman was named vice president of sales at Gas Innovations Inc. Hoffmann will work with distributors to grow their propylene fuel gas business while also managing Gas Innovations' product development, asset utilization and distribution activities. Hoffman worked at Praxair for 30 years. Most recently, he was in branch operations with Airgas. "Our mission is our distributors; Jim Hoffmann will support our distributors," says Ashley Madray, vice president. Airgas Makes Three More Acquisitions (Radnor, PA) • Airgas, Inc. acquired Wright Welding Supply, Inc., an industrial gas and welding supply distributor in Des Moines, IA; Basin Welding Supply in Odessa, TX; and Mainland Welding Supplies Ltd. in Surrey, BC, near Vancouver, Canada. Together, the three transactions add $22 million in acquired annual sales. Praxair Announces Price Increase (Danbury, CT) • Effective January 1, 2008, Praxair, Inc. and Praxair Canada Inc. will increase price and facility fee/monthly basic charges: According to Praxair, these actions are being implemented in response to escalating energy, logistics and other operation costs, as well as current supply/demand imbalances. Supply system capital and maintenance costs have also risen. Price adjustments may be higher or lower than these ranges where applicable. Lincoln Electric Acquires Vernon Tool Company (Cleveland, OH) • Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. acquired the assets and business of Vernon Tool Company, Ltd., a privately held manufacturer of computer-controlled pipe cutting equipment used for precision fabrication purposes. Based in San Diego, CA, Vernon Tool's annual sales are approximately $9M. Founded in 1930, Vernon Tool Company provides solutions to difficult pipe fabrication and process flow issues in industrial construction, as well as heavy fabrication uses in the infrastructure and energy-related segments.
GAWDA NEWS Plan Improvement for GAWDA/Met Life, Group Life Insurance Program • At a recent GAWDA Insurance Trustees meeting, the trustees voted to increase the Dependent Life insurance portion of the program applicable to children up to age 19, from $2,000 to $5,000, effective January 1, 2008. All 117 participating companies were notified of this benefit enhancement. It is estimated that over 80% of those companies providing Employee group life insurance do not provide Dependent life insurance. The GAWDA program does insure Spouses for $10,000 (unchanged) and makes no premium charge for either the $10,000 spouse and now $5,000 child (ren) insurance. Charles Miesch, Purity Cylinder Gases, Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI), was named 2008 Insurance Trustee Chairman, replacing 2007 Chairman David Weigel, Oxygen Service Company (St. Paul, MN). For more information, please contact GAWDA’s Group Life Insurance Consultant David Irving at (610) 566-4851, or e-mail davebarbirving@aol.com. GAWDA Announces Young Executives Education Partnership Program • GAWDA announced the creation of a Young Executives Education Partnership Program to support GAWDA’s growing Young Executives program, which provides educational programming and networking opportunities for young executives. A letter from President Gary Stoneback and Industry Partnering Committee Chair Mark Blakely and an outline of the program are available here, and a Young Executives Education Partnership Program registration form is available at www.gawda.org. Please consider this opportunity to support the Young Executives Program, while increasing the profile of your company among your peers and customers.
WORKSHOPS, WEB CONFERENCES & SEMINARS GAWDA Sponsors University of Industrial Distribution GAWDA Consultants Forum
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The
GAWDA Connection is distributed on the 8th and 23rd of each
month to all GAWDA members as GAWDA
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In Welding & Gases Today's Sixth Annual Business Forecast, distributors and suppliers discuss their success strategies for the coming year. Find out what they expect for 2008 and how they will improve on last year's record breaking results. Also, meet GAWDA's 2008 Board, see photos from the 2008 Convention, and learn about the rise in overseas manufacturing in the welding supply industry. All this and more in the latest issue of Welding & Gases Today, available in print and online at 
In Sympathy
