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Owen Industries Hosts Westside High School Welding Students

by | Apr 30, 2018 | Company, PVS Structures

Westside Welding Class Tour

Friday, April 27th – Six Westside High School Students toured the PVS Metals and Structures facilities as a part of their high school welding class. The students were able to see the full process of steel fabrication from design to final product. This included; design development, pre-construction, detailing, project management and production.  The students had the opportunity to meet with experienced welders to discuss issues and ask questions.

The tour was led by President, Tyler Owen, WHS graduate. He discussed the Owen Industries Apprenticeship Program and his personal experiences with welding and working in the steel industry.

Thank you, Westside High School, Terry Hanna and John Bombac, we appreciate your support in promoting the future leaders in our industry!

Owen Industries Celebrates Retirement of Rick Brendel

by | Dec 21, 2017 | Company

Rick Retirement

Rick Brendel started with PVS in May 1985. Rick started in the Accounting department and has been with the company for 32 years. His job title started out as Account Manager, and promoted to Controller.

We interviewed Rick on his experiences with PVS.

Owen Industries: What did you value most about you experience working at PVS during your many years of tenure?

Rick Brendel: The relationships I’ve created with the people I work with.

OII: What do you consider to be the most significant change that helped the company grow?

RB: Technology. Inventory and purchasing was documented manually. More computers means more time for growing and less time recording.

OII: Do you recall a past project that challenged the team? One of those “They said it can’t be done” projects?

RB: Computer conversion, when BAI was upgraded to SAP. BAI was the first ERP system, SAP integrated several accounting processes. It was a lot of work, and required much knowledge and teamwork from several groups of people.

OII: What do you think the future has in store for PVS and for Owen Industries?

RB: Growth. The personnel will continue to grow and make technological improvements and continue with innovations.

OII: What’s different from the way things were done your first day on the job from the way they are done now?

RB: Everything was manual with a pencil and calculator. It became much faster with computers. If something needed to be changed, you had to erase and start over recalculating, now you can change one number in a spreadsheet.

The Culture has changed, the office was very ‘old school’, I wore a coat and tie at the office. Things have loosened up over the years.

Rick’s post retirement plans include hiking, biking, kayaking and photography. Possibly a part-time job, maybe in accounting….maybe not!

Rick Retirement
Tyler & Rick
PVS Lamp

PVS Structures Welcomes New Welding Apprentices

by | Dec 18, 2017 | Company

Welding Apprentices

PVS Structures welcomed four new welding apprentices in October. This is the second year of the welder apprenticeship program. The program consists of on-the-job training as well as worksite classroom training. After successfully completing the program, the welder apprentices will receive a nationally recognized Journeyman apprentice certificate from the United States Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship. The apprentices are employed fulltime and work with skilled, experienced welders. Classroom training is in partnership with Iowa Western Community College.

“Our goal is to ensure that this program provides high-quality training and produces skilled, competent workers who may not otherwise have an entry-level opportunity in a skilled trade of their interest,” said Tyler Owen, President. “Finding and training dedicated workers is a win-win for our community and necessary for growing both our business and our local economy. Owen Industries is committed to helping equip our welder apprentices with the necessary skills to contribute to that growth.”

Owen Industries’ welder apprenticeship program is an ongoing program and open to anyone who applies. For question or more information about the program please contact Human Resources at 712-347-5500.

The apprentices met with Program Instructor, Andrew Watts, Human Resources Vice-President Ron DeBord, Plant Manager Nick Bristol and PVS Structures General Manger and Owen Industries President Tyler Owen for lunch.

Apprentices; Josh Tills, Warren DeGroat, Aaron Lirette, Caleb Howren

 

 

 

Owen Industries Upgrades Quality Management Systems

by | Nov 29, 2017 | Company

ISO 9001:2015

ISO 9001:2015  Transition 

Owen Industries is proud to announce that each of our divisions’ have recently upgraded their quality management systems to the requirements of ISO 9001:2015.  Thank you to everyone for their assistance in preparing Owen Industries for the ISO 9001:2015 transition.  

Steven M. Riddell

Director of Quality Systems

 

“Most Beautiful” Bridge Restored and Rededicated

by | Nov 22, 2017 | Company

Most Beautiful Bridge

The refurbished Dodge Street Overpass in Omaha, Neb., celebrated its 50th anniversary with a rededication ceremony today. Danielle Kleinhans, PE, PhD, AISC’s vice president of bridges and managing director of NSBA, was in attendance to reaffirm the bridge’s “Most Beautiful Bridge” designation from AISC in 1969, an award category used by the historical version of today’s Prize Bridge Awards program, and unveil a new plaque for the steel bridge. Mayor Jean Stothert and other city officials, as well as students from a neighboring elementary school and relatives of the original architect, Roger DuRand, were also in attendance to recognize the original 1968 dedication of this iconic pedestrian bridge.

“AISC and NSBA are thrilled to see the preservation of one of our historical award winning bridges,” said Kleinhans. “This project is a classic example that using steel creates beautiful yet highly functional works of art that connect communities. We are proud to have been a part of this project through the donation of a new plaque and the donation of the original plaque to Omaha’s Durham Museum to be displayed, preserving the history of the region.”

A neighborhood organization, Friends of the Bridge, formed a private-public effort that raised $150,000 from 150 donors, which helped cover the $340,000 refurbishment cost for the bridge. City of Omaha bridge maintenance funds matched the private fundraising effort. Restoration work included lead-paint removal and repainting, deck resurfacing, base stabilization and new historical and landmark signs.

For more about the bridge restoration, visit www.dodgestreetoverpass.org.

See original article at: https://www.aisc.org/modernsteel/news/2017/september/landmark-steel-bridge-in-omaha-neb.-restored-and-rededicated/#.WhWe7k2WyUl

 

In The AISC News….A New Director

by | Nov 3, 2017 | Company

Tyler Owen

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the election of David Zalesne, president of Owen Steel Company, Inc., Columbia, S.C., as its new chair; Jack Klimp, vice president and general manager of Cianbro Fabrication and Coating Corporation, Georgetown, Mass., as vice chair; and Dan Kadrmas, president of TrueNorth Steel, West Fargo, N.D., as treasurer. In addition, the board welcomes a new director, Tyler R. Owen, general manager of Paxton & Vierling Steel, Structures Division, and president of Owen Industries Inc., Carter Lake, Iowa. All were elected to serve two-year terms at AISC’s annual meeting in September in Chicago.

Tyler Owen is the fourth generation of Owens, dating back to the 1920s, to own and operate Paxton & Vierling Steel Company (PVS Structures), a structural fabrication and steel service center in Carter Lake, Iowa. PVS is now just one division of Owen Industries, a company with five divisions of steel warehouse and processing companies across the midwest. He currently serves as general manager for PVS Structures, and as president of the corporation. Along with his duties at Owen Industries, much of his time is devoted to SanOma Partners, a commercial property partnership that owns and manages several retail properties in eastern Nebraska. He is a former president of the Central Fabricators Association and sits on the boards of the Omaha Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, the Bemis Art Museum and Ak-Sar-Ben. He was a member of the Omaha Public Library Foundation Board and the Omaha Human Rights and Relations Board for the city of Omaha. He is also one of the founders of the Maha Music Festival, a non-profit music festival held annually for the past nine years in downtown Omaha.

https://www.aisc.org/pressreleases/press-releases/aisc-elects-new-board-chair-vice-chair-treasure-and-director#.WfxwAU2WyUk

 

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