2023 BUSINESS FORECAST DISTRIBUTOR MEMBERS
EAST
The last two years, the Eastern region of the country has projected the lowest growth among GAWDA members. In 2021, the region actually predicted negative growth, as COVID restrictions took a major toll on businesses in the northeast. With a -0.5% projection in 2021, and a 5.62% growth projection in 2022, this year represents a leap forward for the region, as cumulatively, the Eastern U.S. projects 9.43% growth in 2023, the highest projected region this year, after being the lowest region the past two years.
` Colleen Kohler, CEO NOBLE GAS SOLUTIONS “Managing and holding our sales team accountable has been one of the main ways that we achieve large growth numbers year over year,” says Noble Gas CEO Colleen Kohler. “Training our team on how to provide exceptional technical support and value added selling is how we accomplish our targets. Our customers value us as business partners in industry because we deliver top of the line customer service.” Kohler notes that CO2 is a major issue in the northeast. “It is hard to find supply at a competitive price, so it takes a lot of management and oversight to make sure we are taking care of our current customers the best we can,” she says. She concludes, “Noble is always looking to expand in any way that makes business sense to us. We are always open to working with our suppliers to be trained on new products to sell. Being on the cutting edge always helps us grow and gain confidence in our customers.”
` Ralph M. Cohan, VP of Sales/ Operations GENERAL WELDING SUPPLY CORPORATION Though General Welding Supply Corporation anticipates the instability of gas supplies to persist in 2023, the company expects to see sales growth in 2023 of 5-8%. This year marks General Welding Supply’s centennial anniversary. Says Cohan, “We continue to focus on what has helped us standout from our competition, service! Eliminate customers’ struggles to move their business forward and you are commonly rewarded with loyalty.” As others have noted, the CO2 shortage continues to wreak havoc in the region. “Being in a service driven environment 60 • First Quarter 2023
and servicing the larger hospital networks in the region, we find ourselves dependent upon the high volume, low priced market, so supply disruptions in such products as medical grade CO2 present issues,” says Cohan. “We still have hopes of getting this behind us.” Overall, 2023 should be a positive year as General Welding begins its second century.
` Stephen Nichols, Owner ARCSOURCE, INC. Increased prices and new lines will help push ArcSource, Inc. to a projected 8% increase in 2023, according to Owner Stephen Nichols. This is in-line with a projected increase for the gases and welding industry this year.
` John Larsen, Vice President WEST PENN LACO As others have noted, persisting supply chain issues will continue to impact growth opportunities in 2023. For West Penn Laco, Vice President John Larsen anticipates a 3-5% growth over 2022. “We try to control expenses to keep price increases to a minimum,” he says. “We shop around for suppliers more frequently and factor in all costs (e.g. shipping, rebates, etc.) in each purchase more closely.” He continues, “There have been opportunities for those like us that have inventory and have people to get products to customers. The industries vary, but recently the new opportunities outnumber the businesses that are slowing or closing. Overall, more manufacturing moving back to the U.S. will be good for everyone in the industry. We are always looking for opportunities to expand our business. We think this is a very good time, since many competitors have struggled with staffing and inventory, to gain new business.” The company expanded its geographic footprint about four years ago and continue to develop that area post-COVID, which will also help drive future growth.
` Lloyd Robinson, President AWISCO “AWISCO is adding an ecommerce store to better serve our customers,” says President Lloyd Robinson. “AWISCO also decided to increase our inventory levels, to create a cushion due to increased lead times.” These factors, combined with anticipated projects that will be funded by the infrastructure bill, lead AWISCO to project a 4-6% growth in 2023. “AWISCO is always looking to expand hopefully we will be able to continue to grow in 2023, by making an acquisition or two,” Robinson says. “AWISCO continues to expand the boundaries of our existing geography.” In January of this year, AWISCO expanded in Toms River, NJ.
