HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1972-04-27, Page 3In only 14 years a company.
founded on friendship , and
optimism, grows to place itself
among° the top competition of its
industrial field and still l
maintains as its`'' -foundation •those
"original philosophies. Such is the
story of Dea1'bornSteel Tubing of
Goderich.
• The company had its Start with
two close friends, the late 11alph
F."Hotton and the late Keith
-Hopkinson. In Aprir,pf 1958 Mr.
Hottonfoundeda company that he
felt could serve the Canadian
market with automotive exhaust
equipment, less than 15 yea's
later it does.
:'Dad had tremendous
foresight," Dearborn General
Manager Gus Chisholm observes'
referring to Mr. Hotton
affectionately. (Around the plant
everyone knows the' founder as
Dad.) "He was,67 when hci opened
this industry and in a way it was
mostly Mrs. Holttpn's idea. She
felt that Dad shquld be doing
something in his retirement since
he•was used-to-a-very-bus3F-I-ife and
he had retired with a considerable
amount of money that -could be
invested.'' ` •
"Dad Hottdn predicted then how
.
General Manager Gus Chisholm, left,, and Design Engineer Beth Haydon discuss plans for a proposed
$100,000 expansion program at the Goderich plant. When the new shipping area is built the,plant will be
able to toad a tractor trailer every 20 minutes meaning•that a load of raw pipe arriving in the morning
would be turned into exhaust assembl Fes and shipped to Toronto by the end of the day shift.—staff photo
the, bbsiuess would grow," Mr
Chisholm relates, ''and in - 10
years it was exactly where he said
it would be. If we meet his
predictions for 20 years. the
company Will be just
tremendous.„
"Mr. flattop always looked on
the best side of things and was a
terrific businessman. This has
rubbed off onhis son and much of
our success .is to these
attitudes," the General Manager
observes. R. W. Hotton, son of the
fourOer, is now president of the
company.
Originally Dearborn Steel
employed six • men, counting the
president and vice-president 'In
1958 no, decisions were made.
without ° discussing" it with the
employees and everyone was part
•
With the trxception of Design
Engineer Beth . ` Haydon, all
employees are from the Goderich
area and have been trained on the
job.' The ,Gener,al Manager
explains that, it is standard
practice to hire a man; observe
his work and then decide how he
shapes•up and where he will do the
best job. Af present there are
eight highly skilled men ( from
Goderich) who started as
labourers and when their
potential became apparent were
given training on the job. The
company is-tooking;forIour more.
• We don't make use -of
Manpower Training Programs,".
Mr. Chisholm exli1ains,, "since
we like to see how a pian shapes up
in the job before we decide 00
special training. We also have
of a closenever asked 'for or received - a
knit group," Mrd r Government grant for equipment
Chisholm recalls. "I . think
everyone would agree this is' still • or expansion."
the case even though _there are Gus Chisholm is a Canadian as
now 65 employees involved in the Well and has lived in' Goderich
operation."
"It has JSO always been
company policy to plow as much
money as possible back- into the
plant. Dad followed this plan and
his son does ,the same."
since 1945. The accent around
Dearborn Steel, Ti ingr. is on
Canadian and local.
The industry uses Canadian
steel, identification • labels,
bundling wire, flanges, and
shipping crates. Theonly imports
are heavy, duty rnachi,fes not.
produced' in Canada.' Over
$500-,000 per year is exported,
from the Goderich plant to the
*United- States,
Including pa'yr`o1l,
approximately°$500,000 is left in
.the immediate Goderich area
annually. Shipping crates last
year alone amounted to an
expenditure by the company of
$17,000. These are purchased
from Hugh 13a11 who produces the
crates in an operation at Sky
Barbour. More than $9,000 was
spent by the company pri heat and
light last year and their phog0 hill
amounted to $1.000, all money
poured into the`•Canadian.
economy, °
Dearborn Steel Tubingcieneral Manager Gus Chisholm takes stock •of some of the countless exhaust
system patterns the local company produces pipes on.."We export tail pipes to Chrysler and G.M. but
our biggest buyerisCanadian Tire Corporation, he explains. The company was established in 1958
with six employees and now employs 65 with that figure expectedtobe doubled inthe next few years.
staff photo
AINSLIE3
Home Dressed Select Meat
OVEN READY = 8-1'0 Ib.
'A' TURKEYSIRESMIb. Q.
ROAST BEEFI. .,
b. .
LET USFALL-
•
YOUR
FREEZER
r
WITH OUR
WHOLESALE
We Bu Y � Direct Frani The Producer — Save The Cost Of
Our Meat Is Govt rnrtnent Inspected
The Middle Mn�,-� All ,
The controversial antiknoisep studies under way in Toronto and
bylaw—the one which has been on H a m i l,t o n• w i 11 p r 6 v i d e
the blotters of town council. information valuable to ..the
members for several weeks development of effective anti -
was„ passed at last Thursday noise regulations in Ontario.
evening's -meeting of Goderich • Mr.. . Auld predicted that
Town .Council with little Ontario's noise control :system
opposition. will probably involve two levels of
Under the bylaw,' `the ringing government w.i.th -muniripa•lities .
Of bells and any unusual• noise, or coping with simple I) I'( Mems anci
noises likely to disturb the • Ontario dealing with d complex
inhabitants of the Town of problems such as mul i -source
Goderich" is prohibited. V industrial operations.
Unusual noises , include the 'The Ministry of the
sound -of any -belly -horn,- siren or •Envi-r'onment's - air .Quality:
other signal de -vice on any .vehicle Branch is 'wcrr-king with .the
of whatsoever kind, except when Ministries of "Intergovernmental •
required by law; excessivel-y Ioud Affairs and Transportation and
music or noise of any kind, which • Communications toprepare dr;a ft
is disturbing to . •residents, . anti' -noise regulations,Auld f.
whether ornot the Source is from said."They.arealsoco-operating
a fixed area or a vehicle: the with the federal government to, •
discharge into the open air of the ' establish noise emissiorl levels
exhaust of any steam engine, for from said i n c l u d,i n g
stationary internal combustion snowmobiles.
engine, except through a muffler .••Measuring and controlling
or other device which effectively : community noise levels is a
prevents loud or explosive compleii.and techno al problem. •'
noises; and any unnecessary Said Auld. '"We .are studying
noise arisingbetween`' the hour of requirements in ..other
8 p.m, of any day anal' ai .' of .the: jurisdictions • and investigating
.next following day „from any specific noise problems in
excavation or construction work Ontario *to insure that our
what-soever; --- itie-1•uding the ~. r
erection, .demolition; alteration T h e $ 4 5, 0 0 0 study w i l l
-or ,repair of any building investigate'vehicula r noise from°
authorized by the Corporation, road, 'rail midair traffic .as well
except in the . case of• nrgent as miscellaneous sources suchas
necessity and then under a permit •chain Saws, snow blower's, lawn
from th°e building • inspector~. • mowers and rock bands.
The penalty provided for in the
bylaw is $300 maximum (plus ,
costs) for each offence.
The bylaw'was drown up to take
the place of the snowmobile bylaw
which was suggested last whiter,
Councillor Stan Profitsuggested
to Council that the bylaw still
lacked the "beefing up" which had
been, intended.
Deputy -reeve Dave Gower told -
Profit that bylaw had been studied
carefully..by the_ administration
. committee before it was placed,
before councillor action. He said
there had been plenty of time for
council members to make
suggestions on how to "beef up"
the bylaw but- that "no one has
given any ideas which .could be
incorporated."
Councillor Profit intimated he
was not in favor of the anti -noise
bylaw as an effective substitute
for the proposed snowmobile
bylaw last winter. .
"I don't have any suggestions
for beefing,up the noise, bylaw,"
retorted Profit, "I didn't 'want it
beefed up. This bylaw is plainly
and simply to appease a certain
group of people in the town,"
Goderich Town Council, isn't
the only body"interested in the
establishment of noise
regulations. A $45,000 study- of
noise levels and their .effects an
the communities of London and
Woodstock . has 'been
commissioned by Ontario,
Environment Minister James
Auld told the provincial
parliament recently.
A team of University oaf„
Western Ontario researchers led
by J. E. K" Foreman of the
mechanical engineering faculty
will measure noise, levels in the
cities' commercial, industrial
and ° residential areas in co-
operation with. Environment
Ontario personnel ar"d el ployees,
ofthe two municipalities.
Their investigation over the
next 14 months will assess not
only existing noise levels but also
'their effects on people. Similar
Seventy -eight-year-old Fred Barker'is termed "one of our most
valuable employees" by General Manager Chisholm. Mr.
Barker is a pattern maker for Dearborn Steel Tubing and is
responsible for' producing the original pattern for the many
designs the company produces. "He's one of the best' and an
expert pattern makei`," Mr. Chisholm says.—staff photo ,
We pay a severe penalty. for
our plant loc ion. in 'coder ch,
trucking steel front the Hamilton'
area," Mr. Chisholm explaine+t.
"After production the pipes ,are
shipped back 'to Toronto. "Dad ,
' located this' industry in Goderich
however anis son has decided it
will stay -despite -these costs," .
Planning ffor the future his
always been a password at.
Dearborn Steel, a ' tradition
instituted by its founder. In 1971,
the plant produced ,666,411
exhaust systems. Future plans
call for a 'large increase" in
'
personnel. The actual numbe'of
systems �produced ,will• not
increase by a great deal 'but
.t)earborn will pe producing -units
that require 150 to 200 per cent.
more labour per unit. "In the next , ......_ro
number of years this will Mean
doubling our present work
force,' Mr. Chisholm predicts.
'Our. major ,Canadian
customer is updating facilities' to
handle more merchandise and has
requested modern type°
con,ainers," he ••explained. "To
comply, we must install an,
automatic loading ramp and have
more room to ' stone. these ..
containers„ It is impossible. ,to
ins`tali these facilities in our
preseni-pre•inis's."
In order to meet -,the demands of
the market an expansion program
is underway to provide the needed
space. 'Construction costs are
estimated to be about $100,000 for
a 5,000 square foot area. Since. '
1558 `• there have been,„ four
previous expansions' which have
multiplied the original plant area
by approximately four times.
A request ..ras put before
Goderich town council last week
for permission to build an
addition on the company's parking
lot out to tale houndry if
necessar'y It also asked•if council
• would agree to allow employee
park4ng on Brock .and. Newgate
Streets or assist in providing
another parking lot. Council is •
Still considering the matter.
"A change is underway toward
mere complicated specialty
systern s-> rat - will -redt•rf-• • the
extra manpowe7' and with the
space provided through. faster
shipping procedures we will be .
able to further expand. "-In years '
:to come the company will buy
$,I50,000 to $200,000 worth of new '
equii lent
"We are looking to the future
when we will ,specialize , in
Canadian markets." the general
manager noted. -but many things '.
are traditional around here,'
'One of the traditions at
Dearborn Steel Tubing is. as
simple as the front dogr. Even.
though the business 'offices were . ,
remodelled recently the original
door. still hangs. "Dad used that
—door wh'en--t-hdy-••- s-ta-r-#ed----t i•is,
business and he 'never changed
it Mr: Chisholm °explained,
"and when we remodelled his son • .
insisted it stay. We've used it or .
14 -years and I guess it's sort • of
lucky.
A workman at the Goderich Dearborn Steel plant produce's' an
exhaust as'semblyusing amachine designed and built especlel ly for
thejob by the Dearborn Design Engineer Beth Haydon Mr. Haydon.
is the only employee who was` not originally a Goderich resident.
Company General Manager. Gus Dhietrotm'said the industry eras •
very y luck to Neve obtained the Seruices of such a fine engineer.
"We have never had prehlem that Mr. Haydon hes not been able to.
;overcome quickly and efficiently," staff photo