Don Craig

By BRETT BOGGS
TVSC Superintendent

AKRON — Don Craig, a 1963 graduate of Talma High School, went on to take a 13-week course at Hobart Welding School in Troy, Ohio.

“I was a bit more advanced than most of the students,” he said in recognition of the work he had already done with his father, the late George Craig. “Dad had a welder in our summer kitchen. I think it was mostly for a hobby, but then he started to do work for area farmers.”

Craig began working for his father the fourth week of February, 1964. “He gave me one paycheck and said, ‘From now on you’re going to be part owner.’”

Now majority owner and president of Craig Welding and Manufacturing Inc., the sprawling complex that grew from his father’s lone welder, Craig likes to say the firm can do anything and everything. “We have engineers who can manufacture anything a customer wants,” he said.

With 52 full-time and six part-time employees, Craig Welding has become noted for its steel sales and portable welding.

“We’re here to help the community,” Craig says. Proof of that can be seen in the entry to the office at 5158 North 825E, where citations and certificates of appreciation line the walls.

Craig’s favorite day of the year is the annual open house. “You don’t have to be a customer of ours to attend,” he said. “But if you come, you’ll meet people you haven’t seen in 20 years.”

As for any obstacles he’s encountered, he said, “Just the ups and downs of the economy—just like everyone else.