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Hard work, appreciation for customers keep custom metal company going
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
Nearly 30 years ago, Rose and Roger Converse took a chance.
Really, they call it a leap of faith.
The former farmers got into the metal industry with dedication from the start to build a company that recognized the importance of building strong customer relationships.
That continues today with their daughter Rita Williams’ leadership at Converse All Steel Services Inc.
“We were definitely blessed with our smarts and our work ethic,” Williams said.
Converse All Steel Services, 450 W. Main St. in Canfield, still specializes in flame cutting of metal pieces for a variety of industries and still focuses on both the small and large customers. The company, employing about 25, also still does what it can to diversify. A spin-off metal art company, Converse Custom Metal Design, just celebrated its one-year anniversary. The custom metal art company uses flame cutting to make the custom wall art pieces that include everything from octopuses to flowers.
“I like the work,” Williams said. “It’s always something new.”
The work started after Roger and Rose lost so much of their crop in the 1977 blizzard and needed another form of income. Roger worked in a fabrication shop where he learned sandblasting, grinding and ran a flame torch machine. He would go on to manage a warehouse on Cedar Street in Youngstown where steel plates were housed.
Flame cutting metal soon became a part of the operation when the Converses noticed a need that needed to be filled. Smaller area fabrication shops utilized the Converses’ flame-cutting capabilities.
“We had very little advertising,” Roger said. “It was all word of mouth.”
The first five to six years were slow for the business, but the early 1990s brought the boom.
In 1993, Converse All Steel Services was incorporated. By 1994, the company needed an expansion and a new venue in Canfield. The move solidified the once-chance venture as a successful business.
It was a learning process, but Rose and Roger willingly learned the business as they went.
“We didn’t know where we headed,” Rose said. “Small companies kept us open over the years. It was relationship.”
Together, with Roger’s background as a millwright and Rose’s background as a designer, the two modified the building to fit their needs.
Shortly after the move, the company acquired another burning machine and upgraded its computer systems to maximize cutting efficiency. A machine shop was added in 2012.
Being in a cyclical industry meant some ups and downs for the company, but they persevered.
“No matter how bad things look, there are good things still to come,” Roger said.
Williams took over the business in 2014 after she worked many years in the plant in various roles. She taught herself how to use the AutoCAD software, a computer-aided drafting software program used for creating blueprints. AutoCAD allows Williams and others at the plant to put in a design and make it come to life with metal and flame.
Williams was also taught lessons of the business by her parents. She sometimes still will ask them for advice.
“Roger was a hard worker,” she said. “He was smart and motivated. If there was an opportunity, he took it.”
While they were focused as a metal flame-cutting business for fabrication shops and other customers, Williams recalled a woman asking if they would make art using flame cutting, but it just wasn’t convenient at that time.
Last year, it become convenient and a reality. Williams brought her brother into the business, Ross Converse, and his wife, Gabrielle, to start Converse Custom Metal Design last year.
“It was a fun way to express our creativity and make some money on the side,” Gabrielle said.
So far, they have about 90 designs, and they do custom pieces. The three use Etsy.com to sell the metal wall hangings.
“They took it to the next level,” Roger said. “It’s pretty exciting to see where they have gone with it.”
There’s been a slight downturn in business with the state of the steel industry, but Converse is weathering the storm with big and small orders.
“We like the small orders; they fill in with the big stuff,” Williams said. “We try to give everything they need. We understand the fabricating world.”
For information on Converse All Steel Services, go to www.converseallsteel.com/home.html.