Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May each year.  This year, Memorial Day is May 27, 2013.  Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union and Confederate soldiers following the American Civil War, it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.

Galvmet Steel and HVAC would like to ask you to join us in remembering our troops past and present, especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Over the course of American History more than 2.5 million brave men and women have lost their life defending our country.  We salute all of the brave men and women of the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and the Navy for their service.  Galvmet has deep roots in the military, our founder Ernie Ketcham is a retired Marine.  We also know that many of our customers have served our country and some have family members currently serving.

By 1865 the practice of decorating soldiers’ graves had become widespread in the North. The first known observance was in Waterloo, New York on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter. The friendship between General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who helped bring attention to the event nationwide, was likely a factor in the holiday’s growth. On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic – the organization for Northern Civil War veterans – Logan issued a proclamation that “Decoration Day” should be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a battle.

There were events in 183 cemeteries in 27 states in 1868, and 336 in 1869. The northern states quickly adopted the holiday; Michigan made “Decoration Day” an official state holiday in 1871 and by 1890 every northern state followed suit. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Women’s Relief Corps, which had 100,000 members. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been buried in 73 national cemeteries, located mostly in the South, near the battlefields. The most famous are Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania and Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington.

The Memorial Day speech became an occasion for veterans, politicians and ministers to commemorate the war – and at first to recall the atrocities of the enemy. They mixed religion and celebratory nationalism and provided a means for the people to make sense of their history in terms of sacrifice for a better nation, one closer to God. People of all religious beliefs joined together, and the point was often made that the German and Irish soldiers had become true Americans in the “baptism of blood” on the battlefield. By the end of the 1870s the rancor was gone and the speeches praised the brave soldiers both Blue and Gray. By the 1950s, the theme was American exceptionalism and duty to uphold freedom in the world.

Ironton, Ohio lays claim to the nation’s oldest continuously running Memorial Day parade, it has been a tradition since 1869. The first parade was held May 5, 1868.

It seems too often that we have to approach the subject of tragedy on days and weeks following horrific events that we watch take place on a national stage. A few weeks ago Boston’s Patriot Day Marathon and celebration was ripped apart by the events that unfolded at the finish line. We would like to extend our condolences to those who lost family members. We would also like to offer our hope and prayers for a speedy recovery for everyone involved.

It was horrifying and painful to watch from here in Kansas City, I can’t imagine what it would be like to see that taking place in our community.

With that said I felt that we needed to offer some positive news in the face of this tragedy, which is why I’ve decided to talk a little about an amazing advancement that will hopefully put some of the people that lost limbs closer to normalcy at some point down the road. Before the bombing I saw an article about the iLimb, a new prosthetic hand that allows the user to use pre-programmed grips and add custom grips.

This prosthetic is so finite it can allow the user to pick up a tiny fragile object, like a grape, without crushing it. While this technology doesn’t really seamlessly translate into our industry, it does show some amazing technology being developed, with the recent bombing it did seem somewhat relevant. What initially caught my interest in theses was how it’s helped a veteran who lost both hands because of an enemy IED was able to hold his little girl’s hand again. Pretty awesome!

We were featured in the April 12th edition of the Kansas City Business Journal.  The title of the story was Galvmet’s stopgap, recession-survival measures continue to pay off.

The full article, written by James Dornbrook,  can be found here.

The article talks about how we are handling the recession.  For our business, the recession began in August 2008 when our phones stopped ringing and orders for steel slowed to a trickle.  It happened almost overnight and was a shock.  We cut costs as quickly and deeply as possible to weather the storm.  We went through a period of time where it was costing us every month to be in business and deliver steel, but we are making progress again and excited about recent signs of an improving economy.

One of our favorite parts of the story is the final quote of Ernie Ketcham responding to the question, “So where are things at now?”

It’s still difficult out there, but we work hard and maintain a positive attitude. Right now, our HVAC sales as a percentage of total sales is about 18 percent on a 12-month rolling average. That’s up from zero, and it’s been a slow climb. But the number I hear my competitors are at is around 60 percent. So we still have a long ways to go, but we’re getting there.

Thank you to all of our loyal customers helping us to get back on the right track!

 

 

We buy the majority of our steel rolls from California Steel Industries.  The Hot Strip Mill is where CSI’s rolling operations begin, as steel slab is reheated and rolled to hot rolled coil. With an annual capacity of more than two million tons, the rolling mill is more than a half-mile long and includes a walking beam reheat furnace, a two-high scalebreaker, five four-high roughers, a crop shear, six four-high finish mills, and two downcoilers. Equipped with an automatic gauge control system and technologically advanced computer controls, the hot strip mill rolls slabs of nine to ten inches thick, into coils ranging in thickness from .0538″ to .500″, and widths of 27 to 72 inches wide.

Though steel had been produced by various inefficient methods long before the Renaissance, its use became more common after more-efficient production methods were devised in the 17th century. With the invention of the Bessemer process in the mid-19th century, steel became an inexpensive mass-produced material. Further refinements in the process, such as basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), lowered the cost of production while increasing the quality of the metal. Today, steel is one of the most common materials in the world, with more than 1.3 billion tons produced annually. It is a major component in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, automobiles, machines, appliances, and weapons. Modern steel is generally identified by various grades defined by assorted standards organizations.

To produce steel, facilities use one of two processes: the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) or the electric arc furnace (EAF). The BOF process uses 25-35 percent old steel (scrap) to make new steel. BOFs make up approximately 40 percent of today’s steelmaking in the U.S. The EAF process uses virtually 100 percent old steel to make new steel. EAFs make up about 60 percent of today’s steelmaking in the U.S.

The Annual Snake Saturday Parade and Festival happened on March 16th and for the fifth year we donated our truck and one of our drivers for one of the floats.  The floats are large and require big trucks like ours to pull them.  We support the Concerned Care float because we believe in what they are doing in our community.  Jim, one of our trusted drivers, volunteered his time for most of the day Saturday to drive our truck in the parade.  Thanks Jim!

Snake Saturday Parade & Festival has become the largest family fun Irish celebration in the area, which also generates an enormous amount of exposure and charitable donations to benefit local non-profit organizations. The festival began as non-profit businesses were invited to build floats and compete for prize money. The response was overwhelming and community involvement soared. The goal of the Snake Saturday Parade is to generate funds to share with our local non-profits. Each year Snake Saturday Parade & Festival awards cash prizes to some 50 –100 local charities that participate in the festivities.