This newsletter is brought to you by:
We are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year! Be on the lookout
for special news, videos, and more throughout 2018 as we celebrate
this milestone event in our company's history
. We
thank you for all your support, loyalty and friendship.
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One Month Left to Renew Membership
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While the discount for early renewal of GAWDA memberships now has passed, there is still one month left to renew your membership before your company loses its membership benefits.
Membership renewals are being accepted through
February 1
. After that date, unless memberships are renewed, benefits will be concluded, according to John Ospina, GAWDA executive director.
For assistance, contact Membership Services Manager Stephen Hill at
[email protected]
. and 954-367-7728 ext. 220. Companies also can renew online
at this link
.
Find out more about why members believe GAWDA membership provides great benefits in the testimonials
here
and discover more of the reasons membership is so beneficial
here
.
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Set Your Calendar for a Great 2018
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Two great national meetings and nine regional meetings are in store as the official GAWDA calendar of events for 2018 gets underway, so now is the time to make your travel plans for the year.
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Member-Get-A-Member Program Continues
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Got someone in mind to become a new member of GAWDA? Get busy and ask them to attend a regional meeting with you, or refer them to our membership services manager!
The
Member-Get-a-Member referral program is underway throughout the year until the Annual Convention. Members who refer new distributor members are rewarded with not only a stronger organization, but a $100 gift card as an incentive.
All you have to do is reach out to someone and tell them the benefits of GAWDA membership, More information about the program, which is co-chaired this year by
Linda Smith of
Chemweld and
Evan Bennear of
Dale Oxygen, is
here.
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Another Possible Cylinder Decal Change Needed
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GAWDA Consultant Michael Dodd reports the following:
Very recently, one of our New York City GAWDA members received a roadside inspection citation for having cylinder decals that had the words “Nonflammable Gas” inside the green label (colored diamond) on two lines instead of one line.
This is the first time I have ever heard of a member being cited for this, so I investigated further. Here is what I found in a simplified version:
Label Solutions had a welding distributor that got into a discussion with one of their customers who happened to be a large refinery. A safety person at the refinery made a huge deal that they felt the words “Flammable Gas” or “Nonflammable Gas” had to be on one line. Label Solutions then sent a letter to the DOT and received back a Letter of Interpretation which says very plainly that these words must be on one line for the C-7 marking.
It seems that the New York State police had a training session and handed recent DOT Interpretations, and this was one of them. So that explains why our NYC member was cited.
We have had the words on one line and two lines for years without any issues. But, now this DOT interpretation changes things.
All our NYC-area distributors should make arrangements to get any affected cylinder decals corrected in the near future. If your cylinder decals have the words inside the colored diamonds on two lines, then you will need to get these changed to the one-line version.
Other GAWDA members will need to have their decals changed in the future, but that timing is not as pressing as the New York area.
If any questions, please contact your GAWDA consultant,
Michael Dodd, at
[email protected]
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Social Media ‘Points of Pride’:
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We’ve discovered many “points of pride” among GAWDA members that they’ve been sharing on social media. To see what’s been happening at a number of member companies, just click on the blue link in the listings below.
- AgoNow LLC Celebrates One Year Anniversary: AgoNow LLC, a channel solutions partner that provides services directed at solving supply chain challenges with fulfillment and wholesale solutions, along with a comprehensive suite of digital tools, celebrated its one-year anniversary recently, and CEO and Co-Founder Larry Davis wrote about that on his blog.
- A team from Praxair’s Skills Pipeline workforce development program received an honorable mention award from the Construction Users Roundtable.
- Employees of Reelcraft Industries Inc. adopted two families for the holidays and provided 115 wrapped gifts to help them, and the combined seven children included, to make the season a little brighter. It’s a practice the company has been doing since 2012.
- Weldstar Co.’s Logansport, Ind. crew received a platinum supplier award from Talbert Manufacturing, Inc. recently.
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Supplier Member:
AIWD
(Association of Independent Welding Distributors)
409 Latimer St.
Woodstock, Ga. 30188
847-323-5388
Peter Ullman,
executive director
Steve Rosenthal, president
Michael Krupnicki, treasurer
The AIWD is an independent buying group whose focus is to deliver maximum value to members by leveraging the combined purchasing power of core products and assets, and then being loyal to a select group of vendors that offer favorable pricing, terms, and patronage rebates. AIWD now consists of 139 members operating in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.
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SUPPLIER CONNECTIONS
& NEW PRODUCTS
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Check out these suggestions for new products and services that GAWDA member suppliers and manufacturers say can help you get a leg up on business.
What’s hot for 2018’s marketplace? What new things have suppliers and manufacturers got on hand to help gases and welding supplies distributors boost business in 2018? Why do they say their newest “hot stuff” is worth taking a look at?
Here are suppliers’ suggestions for new products and services they say can help your New Year – and your entire 2018. Check back here each
Connection issue for the next few weeks as additional suppliers and manufacturers offer their ideas for helping distributors make money or save money this year.
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