Werts Welding & Tank & Tank Service Inc, Wood River, Illinois, threw quite a party at the beginning of August as part of its 60th Anniversary celebration. An open house at the main office in Wood River included a barbeque, vendor exhibits, and presentations by vendors and local officials.
Now a nationwide tank trailer parts distributor with two “R” stamp certified code tank service shops (one in Wood River and the other in Birmingham, Alabama), the company has never lost the family touch for personal service.
Werts Welding was recognized during the open house as one of the oldest businesses in Wood River, and the Werts family was applauded for its community involvement.
Eighteen vendors had displays in the parts warehouse where lunch was served. An exhibit reviewed the history of the company, displayed memorabilia, and offered examples of how the parts catalog has evolved. A range of tank trailers and tank trucks were on display in the parking lot.
Over its 60 years, Werts Welding has grown from a two-person business to an enterprise with more than 80 employees at eight locations. Today, the company designs, assembles, and sells tank trucks and tank trailers for the petroleum, lubricants, waste oil, and vacuum industries.
The business was founded in 1957 in Wood River by Robert and Verna Werts, the parents of current president Dwight Werts. Dwight’s son Nick now makes it three generations of family involvement in the company.
Customer demand drove the need to expand the parts business. Couple this with the reputation Robert developed as the man who could weld or fix anything, and it was just a matter of time before the business was booming and Werts Welding was expanding and shipping parts all across the country.
By 1991, expansion was well underway. “Expansion benefitted our customers with shorter lead times and lower shipping costs,” said Bruce Cornelius, Werts Welding parts and sales manager.
Werts Welding bought a Texas company and expanded the operation into San Antonio. Werts Welding purchased another company in 1997 with locations in Tampa, Florida; Birmingham, Alabama; and Atlanta, Georgia. Since 2003, the company has opened locations in Des Moines, Iowa; Billings, Montana and Denver.
Currently, Werts Welding is a tank trailer dealer for Heil in much of the Midwest and western states, and other select locations. More recently, Werts Welding became in dealer for Mac Trailer in the Southeast. The tankwagon division sells Westmor and Mid-State cargo tanks.
The parts department stocks parts from more that 60 manufacturers for industry applications such as petroleum, dry bulk, chemical, sanitary, crude oil, vacuum, propane, and anhydrous ammonia.