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ISSUE 03/ NOVEMBER 2017

INSIDE TCMACome to Tyler in the Spring!

IN THIS ISSUE:

01 Come to Tyler in the Spring!

02 Comments from the Chairman

02 Upcoming Events

03 Member Showcase: Hickman, Williams & Co. 04 A Look Back in History: Nash’s Iron Foundry 05 Chairman’s Comments cont.

2

Comments from the Chairman

As we prepare to close out 2017, we ask, “Where did it go?” What a year it has been! Con-sider all the discord in Washington, onerous regulations on our backs, North Korean nuclear threats, and devastating hurricanes and fire storms we have dealt with in 2017. We are a strong and resilient nation and we always step up to the challenges before us. Join us in Tyler next spring to hear from industry leaders about what to expect in 2018.

AFS National President, Patricio Gil, will join us on the March 19th and 20th annual meeting. James Simonelli, Executive Director of the California Metals Coalition, and Mark Ziegler, Ex-ecutive Director of the Casting Industry Suppliers Association, are leaders in their fields and will share their outlook for the metal casting industry. Our own Lennon Martin, HR Director for Denison Industries, will present employment perspectives for 2018 and beyond.

The TCMA has a great meeting planned for you! Meeting details and registration informa-tion will be sent to you in the next few weeks. It will be the perfect time to network with these individuals as well as other TCMA members and enjoy the beautiful East Texas spring. See you there.•

Dear TCMA Members and Fellow Cast Metals Travelers,

As we approach the start of the Holiday Season (and the end of 2017---can you believe it?), I encourage everyone to reflect on the past event-filled Twelve Months. Last November, the American people elected what many say is the first ‘pro-business’ POTUS we’ve had in nearly a decade, one who has made many promises; and indeed there is room for optimism:

• A ‘roll-back’ of the Federal Regulatory Agency Over-reach that plagues our Beloved Cast-Metals Industry (and others), and there are signs of promise-keeping. After a slow start, President Trump appointed Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma Attorney General and career proponent of Energy & Business Growth, unfettered by cumbersome, expensive (and in many cases counter-productive) Environmental Rules and Standards.

“For too long, the Environmental Protection Agency has spent taxpayer dollars on an out-of-control anti-energy agenda that has destroyed millions of jobs, while also undermining our in-credible farmers and many other businesses and industries at every turn,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. Calling Pruitt a “highly respected” attorney general, Mr. Trump promised that Pruitt would “reverse this trend and restore the EPA’s essential mission of keeping our air and our water clean and safe.”

True to expectation, Pruitt has already (in his words) “Cleaned House” within the Agency, replacing many career Division Chief Bureaucrats with professionals from the Private Sector.

• On Oct. 27, President Trump appointed Scott Mugno, vice president of safety, sustainabil-ity and vehicle maintenance at FedEx Ground, to lead OSHA as the Assistant Secretary of Labor. Mugno is a proponent of ‘sustainability’ (differing from conventional connotation in an important way; in this case the term means ‘protecting the environment, but not at the expense of our Economy’) and having ‘sunset provisions’ imbedded in the Rules and Stan-dards (ie, after a period of time the Standard would be rescinded—unless re-instated after peer review--rather than automatically continued into perpetuity). Again, this is an instance of placing a proven Private Sector Manager at the head a Regulatory Agency.

Nevertheless it has to be noted, Dear Associates that–as Your Chair has stated before—despite encourag-ing signs of relief, The New Silica Rule is NOT GOING AWAY. I strongly urge all Members to perform their due diligence and PREPARE FOR IMPLEMENTATION & ENFORCEMENT OF THIS RULE IN THE SUMMER OF 2018! Please avail yourselves of the Compliance Resources available thru your Trade Associations (including your TCMA) and/or engage a Professional Consultant (preferably a PE, in my view) to help you prepare. In the immortal words or Jerry Garcia, this thing is “on the wrong track and it’s headin’ for you!”

from Owen Daniel

February 2, 2018:Texas Chapter AFS meeting

in Houston, TX

March 19-20, 2018:TCMA Annual Meeting

in Tyler, TX

Upcoming Events

Continued on Page 5

3 4

Member Showcase:

Nash’s Iron Foundry, the first iron furnace and foundry in Texas, was located sixteen miles northwest of Jefferson, near the site of present Mims Chapel in northwestern Marion County (Cass County until 1860). The furnace was built in 1847 on a tributary of Alley’s Creek on the Walter H. Gilbert headright by Jefferson S. Nash, a Cass County planter impressed with the quality of the local iron ore. A foundry was added sometime thereafter, but it was only intermit-tently operational.

In 1857 the business, under the name J. S. Nash and Company, was reorganized with three active partners: Nash, his son William D. Nash, and David Browder, an expert in iron production brought in from outside Texas. Plagued by chronic shortages of money for equipment, the company approached the state legislature for fund-ing in the form of a land grant in 1857, but no aid materialized. In January 1858 the company was incorporated as the Nash Iron, Steel, and Copper Manufacturing Company, and by this time the Nash fur-nace is reported to have sent more than 10,000 pounds of iron to Jefferson, the nearest shipping point.

Still hoping to receive financial assistance from the state legislature, the company expanded and retooled its facilities in 1859 and 1860. The  secession  crisis and the outbreak of the  Civil War  put an end to the possibility of government aid, and the operation found its transportation and equipment difficulties considerably aggravated by the war. In 1861 the company attempted to shift over to the manufacture of cannons, cannon-shot, and rifles for the Confeder-ate Army. A quantity of cannon-balls was produced, but it appears that no artillery pieces or small arms were manufactured. On March 5, 1863, the company was reincorporated under the name Texas Iron Company.

The company continued to suffer from shortages of equipment and capital, and the business was sold to the George A. Kelly Iron Com-pany toward the end of the war. Much of the plant was dismantled and moved to Kellyville, and by the later 1860s all that remained of Nash’s enterprise was an abandoned furnace. •

Our History

Hickman, Williams, & Company was founded in 1890 in Louis-ville, Kentucky as partnership to provide raw materials to the foundry industry. Richard B. Hickman and Harry L. Williams start-ed their business with “two desks, two bicycles and a typewriter:’

Today, Hickman, Williams & Company is a major sales and service organization, marketing ferroalloys, nickel, carbon additives, pig iron, coke and other related products. Although the number and type of products we provide has changed through the years, one thing hasn’t -the entrepreneurial spirit of our employee-owners who carry on the Hicmkan, Williams & Company legacy of integrity, knowledge, quality and service.

Our Capabilities

Hickman, Williams & Company is the premier supplier of a broad range of products and services to the foundry and steel industries. Our own manufacturing operations include processing, screen-ing and packaging carbons and ferroalloys as well as producing ferroalloy briquettes. Alliances with important principal supplier companies provide us with a complete line of materials for the in-dustries we serve.

Our customers are served from nine offices and sales locations in North America. Additionally, materials are stored in strategically lo-cated warehouses throughout North America to assure availability and prompt shipment.

Our experienced Technical Support Group assists customers in the use of foundry alloys, particularly in the areas of inoculation and ductile iron treatment. Our foundry metallurgists work with cus-tomers to solve production problems, improve productivity and reduce costs.

A management ISO team has established an ISO compliant system for all company locations. An audit team conducts regular audits of all locations to ensure compliance.

New products and techniques are required to keep both the prin-cipal and the customer competitive in today’s global economy. Because of Hickman, Williams & Company’s broad coverage, our sales engineers are often able to apply solutions from one industry to problems in another; or they can meld the capabilities of two separate producers to create a solution that would not otherwise be found. This sort of innovation and dedication has been key to our success since I 890, and will remain a cornerstone for the fu-ture. In 2017, the company celebrates 127 years in business.

Materials for The Metals IndustrySince 1890

Kyle Watt Ph: 281-610-0604 kwatt@hicwilco.com www.hicwilco.com

Warehouse locations Grand Prairie, TX

Houston,TX Ardmore, OK

Nash’s Iron FoundryA Look Back In History:

5

TCMA OFFICERS

CHAIRMANOWEN DANIELGENERAL MANAGERMIDLAND MFG. CO.4800 ESCO DR.FORT WORTH, TX 76140BigO@midland-midco.com

VICE-CHAIRMAN HARRY PHILLIPSOIL CITY IRON WORKS814 SOUTH MAIN ST.CORSICANA, TX 75110hphillips@ociwcom

SECRETARY / TREASURERJOHNNY HILLMARTIN FOUNDRY214-428-2191jhill@martinsprocket.com

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORCLIFFORD SMITHPHONE 817-485-4769csmith.tcma@sbcglobal.net

DIRECTORS TO EXPIRE 2016LEE BURGAMYGamtex Industries.MARK SHELTONOil City Iron WksCLAUDE FAIRProtech CoatingsTED KEENSuperior Cast Metals, Inc.JERALD MITTASCHQuality Electric Steel Casting

DIRECTORS TO EXPIRE 2017LARRY BAILEY Henderson Mfg.DAN SMITHSouthwest Steel Casting Co.DAN YRIGOYENFairmount MineralsSTEVE HODGESCanfield and Joseph

DIRECTORS TO EXPIRE 2018PETER MACLERPeter E. Macler AssociatesMACKENZIE MEEKOFDenison IndustriesBRETT MOREHEADPorter Warner IndustriesTIM SCHULZC & L Aluminum FoundryGEORGE WESTHOFF, JR.Midland Mfg., CO. DIRECTOR EX-OFFICIOTOM MCCORMACK

President Trump is also working to ‘rescind’ or ‘nullify’ signed Treaties and Trade agreements that he considers detrimental to his ‘Make America Great Agenda’ by strengthening Domestic Manu-facturing viability. His stated goal is to make the US a ‘Net Exporter’, and based upon his deter-mination so far, with our support & encouragement (dare I say FAITH?) it might just happen. The GOP’s Tax Plan (actually just recently presented) contains many of the Tax-Relief Provisions men-tioned by The President. So…….after a dark night in our Industry, there are many other signs of recovery and encouragement: non-ferrous activity is showing signs of life, and many ferrous shops are now reporting 3-4 month backlogs, with scrap prices on the rise.

As I said initially: there is room for optimism!

In closing, let me wish EVERY ONE OF YOU a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and Christmas and a Happy New Year, and please take a moment to consider those around you, in your Community and Workplace less fortunate than you, keep your level of Gratitude above your Expectations, and always remember to COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! •

Regards,

Owen Daniel

Midland Mfg

TCMA Chair

Chairman’s Comments Continued

Continued from Page 1