Machine shop owner follows blueprint for success

His experience goes well beyond the 35 years he has owned the shop.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HUBBARD -- At age 80, Dan Williams continues to run his business like a well-oiled machine.
For 35 years, Williams has owned Williams Machine Shop on North Main Street. Over the years, the shop has evolved into a family operation, with Williams' son Bill serving as its president; his daughter, Ann Marie Nicora, working as vice president and secretary; and his son Bob working as treasurer and vice president.
Both sons followed in their father's footsteps by spending part of their teenage years working at his business. Bob Williams went on to become a machinist, he added.
"It's been an ambition all my life to own my own machine shop," Williams said.
In mid-1969, his ambition became a reality when he and two partners bought the former Hall's Machine Shop after its owner died.
Updating equipment
At the time, Williams recalled, most of the 30 machines were on line shafts, meaning they were operated by pulleys and clutches. He began to replace each one by attending auctions, where he bought new and used pieces of equipment.
Now, nearly all of the 33 machines his five employees use -- including drill presses, lathes, vertical and horizontal milling machines and welders -- are motorized.
Williams Machine Shop specializes in fabricating, welding and machine repair work. The company can rebuild machinery and make gears and other parts to do the job. Customers include Ellwood Engineered Castings of Hubbard and Wheatland Tube of Wheatland, Pa.
"We're looking for more customers," he said. "We've been picking up new customers in the last two months and have picked up six small companies."
History
Williams started in the field long ago. Before graduating from Hubbard High School, he spent most evenings at South High School in Youngstown, taking machine shop courses in 1939 and 1940. His goal was to become an engineer, and Williams thought that being a tool and die maker would help him to be a better engineer.
The following year, he put his knowledge to work at the former Powell Pressed Steel in Hubbard as an apprentice tool and die maker. Except for a three-year career in the Navy, Williams worked at Powell during an eight-year span in the 1940s.
Later, Williams and a partner spent two years running a machine shop on Myron Street in Hubbard. He spent most of the 1960s working at several machine shops, including Brainard Strapping in Warren, and also ran the pro shop at a Hubbard golf course.
While at the golf course, he still spent winters and many evenings working in the machine shop industry.
Looking ahead
Even though a sluggish economy has impacted his company in recent years, Williams said he's predicting better times ahead. Plans are in the works to add an ornamental iron component to the business, which would allow it to build and install railings for homes, he noted.
Williams praised his employees for contributing to the success and longevity of his shop and its operations.
"I try to treat them the way I want to be treated," Williams said.