A Father's Day Section
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Danny Sr. & Danny Jr. Johnson share how their 25 years of working together has been rewarding In 1995, North Industrial Machine was founded by Danny and Debbie Johnson in Hartsville, South Carolina. At that time, their 13-year-old son Danny Jr. became the companies first employee and they worked with one manual lathe to shape metal for machines. The company quickly grew and by the summer of 1996, North Industrial Machine (NIM) had designed and constructed machines for use outside of the United States. Since then, the company has expanded further by adding CNC equipment to its operation (including engineering software to meet customers needs), added a large fabrication department, purchased a sheet metal works company, purchased Precision Components and Services (PCS) located in Patrick, South Carolina, and purchased Sun Superior in Darlington, South Carolina, where we additionally relocated the fabrication department. However, their biggest expansion was opening their corporate head quarters in downtown Hartsville. Danny Jr. explains, "This allowed us to expand into large scale industrial capital projects within the fields of project/construction management, engineering, general and mechanical contracting." The team is now licensed coast to coast for general contracting. NIM is truly family-owned and operated. Currently, Danny Johnson Sr. serves as President; Danny Johnson Jr. serves as Vice President and their wives, Debbie and Brandy, respectively, serve as members on the board of directors for all of the companies. Along with superior knowledge in metalwork, this family has mastered spending time together on and off the worksite. When asked about his work relationship with his father, Danny Jr. explained, “We both have a strong work ethic and we’ve been through so many ups and downs through the years. I would say because of our company, we have a very special relationship.” Danny Sr. includes,
“I have to say that trust is a big part of our relationship because we trusted Danny Jr. at a very young age. Now, looking back, the entire experience has been very rewarding.” Because of NIM’s 26 years of success as a familyowned business, they certainly have their share of stories to tell. One memorable moment Danny Sr. and Danny
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Jr. share was when a customer decided he wanted to work with ONLY Danny Sr. The customer believed that whenever Danny Jr. began sending quotes, they were too high and believed it was because of Danny Jr.’s “lack of experience.” Little did the customer know, Danny Jr. had always been the one to send quotes. The only change was the signature. In the beginning, Danny Jr. was under the age of 18 so he would sign his father’s name when sending faxed quotes. Once he turned 18, he began signing his own name. The customer had no idea that the same person had been quoting him all along. With customer demand growing each year, North Industrial Machine and its family of companies seem to have a bright future. NIM can assist you and your company with almost any project in the metalworking industry.
