R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press
At ProArc Welding and Fabrication, full-time foreman and welder Brian Scherer uses a press to bend a sheet of metal.
EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.
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ESCANABA — ProArc Welding and Fabrication — located across from the fairgrounds on 9th Avenue North in Escanaba — works with steel, aluminum and stainless steel using large, heavy-duty equipment. They regularly make parts for rail cars, fulfill custom orders from blueprints, and complete jobs of all sizes for clients who simply walk in. Services provided also include sandblasting, powdercoating, and painting.
Up until ten years ago, Gordon Todd was working as a welder for Escanaba and Lake Superior Railway (E&LS). While there, he recognized that the railroad had more work than could be completed by internal employees — and since Todd knew exactly how to manufacture the parts they required, he started up his own business.
To first get off the ground in 2014, Todd purchased just one computer numerical control (CNC) plasma cutting table — also called a burn table — and rented a building in what was formerly the Harnischfeger complex behind the fairgrounds. There, ProArc Welding and Fabricating began by making parts for E&LS and taking walk-in requests.
Gradually, the business grew, adding small pieces of equipment here and there, reported Tonya Todd — Gordon’s wife, co-owner who also helps manage operations. Their capabilities expanded, and they now are able to work with heavier pieces of material and more types of metals than smaller operations.
By 2016, ProArc was ready for an upgrade when Gordon saw that the building at 2301 9th Ave. North was for sale. Currently, ProArc fills most of the space, but they also rent out smaller attached portions to two other tenants.
The site was originally developed and occupied by Gafner’s Machine and later housed a few other businesses, most recently Gilbert Veneer Sales. After the Todds purchased the place in 2016, it was renovated, a wall was put up to divide the interior, the building was painted, a sign went up out front, and ProArc Welding and Fabricating moved in.
“We went from (having) one plasma burn table to probably one of the largest supplies of steel on-shelf in the U.P.,” said Tonya.
Sheet, angle iron, channel, square tube, solid square bar, round tube, solid round bar — all are common materials for welding that may not always be easy for the layperson to source. But ProArc stocks them all, in stainless, aluminum and steel, and sells them as-is to those who walk-in or order ahead.
Since they routinely order from larger providers that only do wholesale or business-to-business sales, ProArc proudly advertises, “if we don’t have it, we can get it — typically within three days!”
The Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District, which teaches a number of career trades, including welding, purchases from them regularly, and Tonya said that a school in Negaunee has also been in touch about obtaining materials for the upcoming year.
Their biggest customer remains E&LS, but readers have likely seen some of ProArc’s work elsewhere in the area.
Gordon shared that they built a complete conveyor system for Race Ramps in Escanaba.
“We did a big job for the big ferris wheel for Joe Skerbeck — the big wheel sign,” said Tonya . “We’ve done custom firepits; we did one for Camp 5 Terror in Wisconsin.”
The fire rings have an image, lettering, or other design silhouette cut out of the metal so that flames illuminate the negative space.
“The firepits, the cool thing about that is you’ll cut ’em on the table, cut it at ten feet, roll it into a circle and just weld the one corner,” said foreman Brian Scherer.
A large-scale undertaking, ProArc recently made a dump trailer that ended up being purchased by the State of Michigan — a job that taught them a lot about the certification process.
ProArc does a lot of straightforward projects like repairing hand trucks for local businesses and making brace ramps and staircases. They handle walk-ins, which can take a number of forms.
“Your grandma could come in here because the leg fell off her old cast bird feeder, and we’ll repair that, or you might come in here and need a marquee overhang — we did the one at Harbor Freight,” Tonya said.
Much of the business ProArc Welding and Fabrication gets is from word-of-mouth. Customers have praised their professionalism and turnaround time.
The shop is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.