When family matters

From left to right, Jason, Michael, Bob Jr., and Hank are the Huffmans leading the way at Huffman Welding & Machine. While they have big goals and dreams for the company, those things never outweigh their desire to put people and community first.

When Bob Huffman Sr. started Huffman Welding & Machine Inc. 45 years ago in Fort Madison, Iowa, he probably never imagined the evolution that would take place at his one-man welding shop.

But evolve it has. The company continues to grow and over the years has become an integrator of production equipment for manufacturers, a design team capable of handling custom design and build projects, a job shop for precision machined components and fabrications, and a production shop for various small-batch components. Growth can be attributed to the team and the relationships they have built by staying true to principles rooted in family values.

Today the company, run by Huffman’s three sons—Michael, Bob Jr., and Richard (Hank), as well as his grandson Jason, employs 50 at the 50,000-sq.-ft. facility that houses a bevy of fabricating and machining equipment. The family also employs another 60 people at its three retail stores throughout southeastern Iowa and western Illinois, Huffman’s Farm & Home.

In 2015 the company installed a 350,000-kWh solar panel field on its property to generate 90 to 95 percent of its power needs in the coming years—a savings that the company hopes to pass on to its customers. They have extended solar into their retail division by adding it to their West Burlington, Iowa, store this year and have plans to add it at the other locations.

It’s been a whirlwind for the family business, but not one without its fair share of challenges.

First, as a major area employer, the Huffmans feel responsible to take care of and stay loyal to the dedicated people whom they employ, even when business is slow or the economy takes a dive. In doing so, they must find a way to cut costs sustainably and responsibly without cutting staff. They also feel it is their social responsibility to support and give back to the community that has given them so much throughout the years. Finally, in the spirit of wanting the business that Bob Sr. created to stay around for another 45 years or more, the Huffmans know the area needs to foster manufacturing career training in local schools.

They have always had big goals, and so far they have been able to strike the right balance between pursuing those goals while maintaining the emphasis on people and their community—their family.

PWT: What sets your company apart from strictly a business standpoint?

Jason: Being a true job shop, we see a variety of projects. To grow and be competitive takes an experienced team, a variety of equipment, and processes that allow us to complete our projects efficiently and to the customer’s specifications. We’ve held on to a lot of manual equipment because when building we’ve found that doing certain things manually with a craftsman is still more efficient than setting up a CNC for just a few parts.

One of the most unique things about our business by far is that we don’t have much turnover with our employees. We’ve been fortunate to have a skilled and dedicated staff, but it’s incredibly hard right now, especially with the knowledge that some of these tenured guys will most likely want to retire soon. Our schools are pushing to bring all of the trades back, which is good, but they have many challenges to overcome before the programs come to fruition. From our standpoint, it’s critical if we are going to have future skilled craftsmen.

Young fabricators have the opportunity to learn from and work alongside some of Huffman’s more tenured staff, some of whom have been with the company for more than three decades.

PWT: Jason, did you always know you’d end up working in the family business, or were you ever tempted to test the waters elsewhere?

Jason: I just knew I wanted to be here. Growing up I always saw how proud my family was of the team they built and the projects they accomplished. Hearing from the community and our employees about our company and the impact it makes on their lives really drove my passion.

PWT: What was the driving force behind installing solar panels on-site?

Jason: Our team is always looking for ways to improve our efficiencies. The benefit for the environment is an obvious one, but it’s also a smart economical decision in that it can keep our costs down by saving on power consumption.

Initially we looked at all options, including wind power, and researched why some large corporations were not implementing solar or wind on-site. Larger companies have power rates that differ from smaller companies like ours, so the paybacks are not as effective.

It turns out that the state of Iowa has some good incentives and rebates available, so we took advantage of that and installed a 350,000-kWh field. This investment will help us lower our cost of doing business going forward. Since our cost of doing business will be lower, we’ll be able to transfer those cost savings to our customers. That’ll allow us to keep costs low and competitive. There really is no downside.

PWT: Jason, you were instrumental in helping to develop a welding school at the local high school. How did that get off the ground, and how rewarding is it to see it up and running?

Jason: I was happy to help try and help figure out a way to get something implemented. It all started when the high school principal and I were chatting after a Chamber of Commerce meeting about welding needs in the area. We decided to meet at the school and try and come up with a game plan as to whether this was something they could make happen. We looked at storage buildings that we could convert into a classroom space, and the principal found a great welding instructor who had experience starting welding programs from the ground up. We met with him and got him excited about being a part of getting this program going for the school, and then we had to get people involved to raise funds to get the program operational. Now they are stocked with equipment, they’ve got welding booths, and there’s a waiting list of kids who want to take the class.

Our other area high schools are trying to figure out ways to start similar programs because of Fort Madison’s success. It’s great to see. We are also working on possibly developing a local regional center that would house various vocational trades classes and it would be accessible for students from all local schools.

PWT: What problems or potential problems facing the business keep you up at night?

Young fabricators have the opportunity to learn from and work alongside some of Huffman’s more tenured staff, some of whom have been with the company for more than three decades.

Michael: I’m 60 years old, so I’ve got one foot out the door. But my brothers Hank and Bob and my son Jason have a ways to go. I want to leave the company in good hands so they have a future. We’ve never laid anyone off for lack of work in 45 years, and I’d like to continue that.

The challenge we face is how do you entice young people to work with their hands when the educational system primarily promotes a four-year college degree? I saw it when I started 45 years ago that the system was geared toward putting us into college. Fortunately for me, dad started this business so I enrolled in the community college to learn machining and welding. So we are constantly trying to educate the community that we are in search of the next generation of skilled craftsmen.

Jason: Without these skilled craftsmen it will be tough for us to be here in 10 years. We aren’t going to be able to draw people from Des Moines or Cedar Rapids—places where they have these programs—because it’s too far away.

Bob Jr.: We are not unlike any small business in that there are multiple things at different times that we worry about. Obviously, we’re always concerned about having enough business, but once we do, the question is whether we can find qualified guys in those trades to help us grow in areas where we are finding new business. Our business is so dependent on capital projects that we can go from not being real busy to that fear that we’ll have to turn projects away if three or four of them hit at the same time, especially if we can’t find the extra fabricators or machinists to help out. These are not guys you can just go find off the street. This year we have turned away more projects than any other year in our company’s history because we just can’t find the craftsmen to complete the projects and keep up with our demand in services.

We’ve been blessed with a great group of guys that have been with us for an extensive period of time. We have one gentleman out there who’s been with us for around 38 years, and we have a lot who have been here for more than 20 years. We’re blessed from that standpoint because they are very talented individuals.

Huffman Welding & Machine Inc., 319-372-7232, www.huffmanwelding.com

It can be a challenge to find skilled workers in rural Fort Madison and surrounding communities, and the Huffmans recognize that recruiting welders, machinists, and skilled fabricators from more densely populated areas is a tough sell. That’s why it is important that local high school and community colleges provide career training in welding and machining as homegrown workers are the lifeblood of the company.