Werts Welding & Tank Services named Small Business of the Month
WOOD RIVER — The RiverBend Growth Association has named Werts Welding & Tank Service, Inc. as its Small Business of the Month.
Werts Welding & Tank Service, Inc. first opened its doors for business in March of 1957. Its founder, Robert R. Werts, became interested in welding in high school during the 1940s and worked for a welding shop for six years after his discharge from the service. Werts, along with his wife Verna, began their welding business in a portion of a small building across the street from its present location in Wood River.
In 1958, shortly after the construction of his first building, Werts was approached by a local trucking company to repair a damaged petroleum tank. That unit began the process of Werts Welding & Tank Service, Inc. specializing in the tank trailer industry.
The founders’ son, Dwight A. Werts, joined the firm in 1977 and is now the president and CEO. Since then, the third generation of the family has also entered the business.
After several years of repairing tank trailers without a reliable source of parts, Werts Welding started stocking equipment for the type of tank trailers they were repairing. Customers soon found out about the stock, and over-the-counter parts sales began to local accounts. That division of the business grew fast. More product lines were added.
With the development and distribution of a complete tank trailer parts catalog, Werts Welding & Tank Service, Inc. evolved into one of the premier tank trailer equipment distributors in the world.
To better serve customers, Werts Welding opened a tank trailer parts distribution center in San Antonio, Texas, in 1991. In 1997, Werts acquired new parts distribution centers in Birmingham, Ala., Atlanta, Ga. and Tampa, Fla. In 2003, Werts opened its sixth branch in Des Moines. In December, 2011, a seventh branch opened, this one in Billings, Mont.
On March 1, 2013, another branch opened in Denver.
The Wood River facility, in addition to parts warehousing, includes a 10- bay shop. It is a D.O.T. registered, National Board and A.S.M.E. accredited tank trailer repair and fabrication facility. The Birmingham facility also is an accredited tank trailer repair facility along with a complete parts distribution warehouse. New Heil & Beall aluminum tank trailer sales, Trans Tech, & Mid-State truck tanks sales are all handled from the Wood River location.
Werts Welding is a family owned corporation with 80-plus employees. Each employee is considered to be a part of this family.
For more information contact (618) 254-6967 or visit www.wertswelding.com.
***
The RiverBend Growth Association selects a small business to honor each month. Winners are selected based on a scoring system that awards points for number of years in business, number of employees, overcoming adversity and community service.
Businesses can be nominatedby using the form at http://www.growthassociation.com/page/recognitions-and-awards/.
The RiverBend Growth Association is the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development organization for the 11 communities known as the River Bend. For more information about the Growth Association, visit www.growthassociation.com or call (618) 467-2280.
— From the Illinois Business Journal
