In memory of Kenny Bryan

Today, I take a moment to speak for all of us at Weld Wire to pay tribute to and celebrate the life of Gerald “Kenny” Bryan. Kenny was not just one of the finest men in the industry, but we were also honored to count him as a friend and part of our Weld Wire family. For many years, we had the privilege of working with him and always counted on his intelligence, his insight and his unfailing integrity.

Kenny helped us to shape our purpose, which is to rebuild and reinvigorate the welding field and to attract and train the best young men and women to join it. He inspired us with the example he set in his life and work. Kenny believed in the value of hard work, and he relentlessly championed the true value of quality control, alloy identity and safety.

In Kenny’s honor, we are working on a new initiative: to guide young people toward a fulfilling and rewarding career in welding, at the same time helping to fill the gaps in our welding workforce. With Kenny’s memory as our guide, we are working to help to make a real difference in the lives of young adults and in the industry as a whole.  

We miss you, Kenny, and we thank you so much for lighting the way with your friendship, your dedication, your hard work and your integrity.

Inspiring a Future Generation

Although this is Brent’s Blog and I am very new to the World of Welding, I wanted to share that I am learning so much on a daily basis and finding myself utterly fascinated by this trade…this “art” that I knew nothing of in my previous life.  We at Weld Wire Company simply supply a component of what the artist needs, the filler metals; however, there are questions asked of us daily by our customers that lead us to believe that we could possibly provide even more.  Some of these questions have left us scratching our heads wondering why so many of our customers are having difficulty finding dependable, qualified welders.  Although some have shared that they can indeed find a welder; but that they cannot keep a welder, or the welder that they do find, does not share the same work ethic as the “old-timers”.

Welding is such an essential trade and so integral to the growth and management of our world and our infrastructure; the bridges we desperately need built and repaired…the strong pipelines to transport oil and gas, the tools that make our lives and occupations safer and easier.  The question arises, why isn’t the younger generation encouraged and exposed to welding?  Why are they not looking into this trade earlier, this trade that’s so intrinsic to society?  One could ask themselves if it may be society’s pressure.  We are programmed that if we are going to be “successful” we must go directly to a four-year college, or university, and this is the road that must be travelled, if we are to achieve this “success”.    In many cases, society measures this success by how much money we make, and we do indeed need money to eat, keep a roof over our heads and support our families.  On www.indeed.com, pipe welders are sharing their pay rates to be anywhere between $24.00/hour to $110.00/hour while a foreman with a natural gas company in Arizona remarked that, with a recent raise, he will break $110,000 this year.

We at Weld Wire Company are going to be exploring these questions, digging deeper into the Welding Arena, and looking into ways that we can do our part in nurturing this extremely necessary trade in the months ahead.  If anybody reading this Blog has suggestions as to how we could do more to advocate and encourage this important field, we are always here and open to ideas.

In addition, I would like to thank Brent Saul for allowing me to share my thoughts in his Blog space, and I hope to have the chance again in the future.  Please stay tuned!

-Wendy Bender