Butch Welsch of SMACNA St. Louis is Made an Honorary Member of SMART

By Cari Bilyeu Clark

It would be pretty hard to overstate the contributions to the sheet metal industry George “Butch” Welsch has made. The fourth-generation CEO of Welsch Heating and Cooling in St. Louis, Missouri has been working in his family’s business for 55 years, since the ink on his BSME from Washington University – and his wedding license – was barely dry. His great-grandfather founded the Welsch Furnace Company in 1895.

“When I started [in the early 60s], I didn’t want to tell anyone I was a ‘furnace man,’” Welsch chuckles. “[This industry] was Number One on the Better Business Bureau complaint list, largely because of a few bad apples who were scaring people into buying new furnaces when they didn’t need them. It has taken a lot of years to get rid of that reputation.” He started advertising and set a higher bar for the professionalism of his employees in appearance, training, and customer service. His efforts paid off.

In addition to providing inspired leadership in his company (half of his employees have been with Welsch Heating and Cooling for 15 years or more) his boundless energy and

thoughtful approach to labor relations made him an asset to SMACNA and a natural negotiator with SMART Local 36. In this capacity, and as chairman of the St. Louis Metalworking Industry Fund, he built a close working relationship with Dave Zimmermann, Local 36’s business manager. “We worked together for the betterment of the industry,” says Zimmermann.

Welsch and Zimmermann found kindred spirits in each other, and the strong relationship and trust they built has created a win-win-win situation for contractors, union members, and customers.

“You have to have communication,” says Zimmermann. “You cannot expect to go into negotiations [and have a productive meeting] if you have not had contact for three years. You have to have a working partnership.”

Welsch and Zimmermann talk frequently and address any problems immediately. They both agree that setting aside personal agendas and working for what is best for both union membership and contractors is key. Welsch says, “Dave has been willing to do things outside the norm. He has enough respect and backing from his people that when he did what was best in the long run, they trusted him. He made difficult decisions that he knew were right.”

An adversarial relationship is the last thing either Welsch or Zimmermann wanted. “We have to build trust—we are allies!” says Welsch. “While the contractors provide leadership and management, the workers provide the manpower we need to get the work done.”

“It’s a pretty perfect situation when the president of SMACNA and the president of the union can talk and work things out as problems arise,” says Jack Goldkamp, former SMACNA St. Louis chapter president and chapter executive. “Butch’s signature is competence and attention to the goal at hand. He has been negotiating labor contracts for many years, and has taken it from an ‘us versus them’ situation to a true partnership.”

Admiration and appreciation for what Welsch has done for both SMACNA and SMART in St. Louis prompted Zimmermann to nominate him for honorary membership in SMART. On February 10, at the SMACNA St. Louis Installation of Officers dinner, Welsch was “completely shocked” by this rare honor (only the second ever presented).

Surprised and humbled, Welsch – a former SMACNA National president, a National Legislative Contractor of the Year, ACCA Contractor of the Year, and a recipient of the Legend of the Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, among other honors – credits Zimmermann and his own staff and notes that working as a team to create an atmosphere of progress and partnership, and a commitment to excellence at all levels of the industry, has created an exemplary standard for the union market in St. Louis.

Noah Goldkamp, current chapter manager of SMACNA St. Louis, comments, “The amount of time Butch Welsch puts in and his meticulous nature are great assets to SMACNA.”

Zimmermann also notes that Welsch has put in many hours of non-paid work. “Butch got a five-year [contract] extension done in two weeks, and it was passed unanimously by Local 36. That’s unprecedented.

“When I brought him plans for our new training facility, Butch was behind it all the way. Even though it greatly increased the cost of the apprenticeship program, the contractors supported it, because they trust Butch,” he says.

“The biggest thing, the one constant in this industry, is change. We have gone from coal to gas to installing air conditioning in new construction when that came to the residential market in the 60s and now growing the residential service and replacement market,” says Welsch.

While other markets have let residential work fall to nonunion contractors, Zimmermann and Welsch have seen to it that the union share of the residential market in St. Louis is growing nicely, with 85 percent of new residential work going to union shops and workers.

“We have worked well together. I am a better person because of working with Butch,” Zimmermann (who is retiring soon) concludes.

“Ours is a great field,” says Welsch. “We provide comfort. That is an important thing to give to society.”

Cari Bilyeu Clark is a freelance writer based in Northern Virginia.