Welser Profile North America is headquartered in two facilities in Valley City, Ohio. The primary product made in North America are profiles which take a flat strip of stainless steel or other metal and move it through a series of rollers. These rollers bend and shape the strip into the shape needed for at the end. They may have holes in them, they may be curved, or they may require welding parts together.

The business launched in 1664 in Ybbsitz, Austria as a pan forge where people made pots and pans by hand. The Welser family purchased the property in 1664, but it has been mentioned in documents as early as 1290. In 1918, after the end of the first world war, the shop switched to punching metal, which is using tools to put holes in metal, and switched from water power to electric using a turbine engine. In 1960 the company began making profiles. Profiles can be found all around you including the metal holding up the ceiling tiles, parts of your desk, and even parts of vehicles. 

Our challenges are different in Europe versus the United States. In Europe, all of our apprentice positions are filled and we do not have capacity for more – although there are more workers who would take them. In North America, we need to establish our brand and connect more with workers. We want to connect more with the people around us – customers, and workers alike – so they can get to know us better.

On the customer side, companies appreciate our quality and attention to detail so we have lots of customers asking us to fill their orders. We need to be strategic about which orders we take and what we make. We want to always be doing what we are good at and what is going to be the best for the long term. We also keep adding new equipment so we can take on more work.

In the US, all of our steel comes from plants in the region – Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky. In Europe, we use European steel. Our customers from our Valley City location are in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

We are very engaged in sustainability efforts. WE are ISO 14001 certified, which is an international standard companies can earn by committing to the environment. We have to implement, maintain, and constantly improve on an environment management plan which includes recycling, but also goes beyond. We recycle all of our paper, cardboard, and other obvious items. We also recycle pallets, which are wooden structures material comes to us on, into mulch. Any metal left over after the rolling process is recycled. And all of our equipment and buildings are evaluated for energy efficiency.

The majority of our materials are shipped into our plants on rail cars versus trucks which is much more energy efficient and reduces carbon emmissions. 

All companies interact with government when building new plants, etc. but we actually have gone a step further. Our CEO, Thomas Welser, is currently working through the Austrian government, with the United States Labor Department to educate their team on how apprenticeships work in Europe and specifically at Welser. We are helping to bring these concepts into business in the United States. 

Potential employees can visit our website at https://www.welser.com/en/jobs-usa to find open positions, and learn about the company. We have jobs for folks who just finished high school, up through individuals with specialized schooling in engineering and other technical fields. We welcome the opportunity to talk to potential employees and anyone who wants to tour can contact us!

Why do you like to work here?