Jim Turner is National Welders. Love of the business was his life; and with perseverance and the support of Mrs. Turner, Jimmy and Judy, his dreams became reality. He valued the opinions of his employees, and had an uncanny ability to make them feel that they, too, were National Welders. Then in his final hour, with a gesture of generosity practically unheard of, that left his employees speechless, he sent each a check and a letter thanking them for their good work and dedication. A paragraph of the letter stated:

"None of this would have taken place without the support of you who have added your support to our key people and company. You have brought 100% into this dream and made our people better for each other, producing a better National Welders. After developing with you as our support group for 57 years, it was decided to sell some stock in our company. This has allowed me to accumulate some extra monies that is being shared with you via this letter. This is a personal gift from me to you."

If you ever met Jim Turner, even once, you never forgot him. He was different from others, both inside and out. It was not his height, strength, or other physical attributes that drew attention to the man. It was the total confidence he had in himself, and his ability to make this confidence contagious to those who worked with him. His rural southern upbringing always gave Mr. Turner a friendly, folksy air, which often hid the focussed, unflappable and tenacious spirit which in fifty years carried National Welders Supply from a car trunk to the largest independent welding supply distributor in the United States, and one of the largest privately owned companies of any type in the state of North Carolina.

James Austin Turner was born on July 25, 1910. He, his two brothers and a sister grew up during a decade that felt the fury of World War I; an era when hot toys were erector sets, tinker toys, and Lincoln Logs. Growing up in Grover, S. C., Henrietta, NC (near Sandy Mush), and Hickory NC provided a backdrop of genteel traditions, influences and passions which shaped life-long preferences that at times belied the genius in him. To all he showed a flair for southern hospitality and at meals a healthy appetite for fat back, collard greens and country ham.

By the time he was 16, he had moved to Charlotte and earned the distinction of becoming the youngest store manager for Piggley Wiggley. The grocery store afforded Jim the opportunity to improve his marketing/sales skills. By displaying merchandise next to the cash register, or in even in front of the counter rather than behind, as was then the custom, he enticed customers to buy more. His real enthusiasm, however, involved his large displays of popular products with discounted prices. These predecessors to "point of purchase" programs made management come to Jim and ask why sales had increased so dramatically on certain items. Store profits rose, because he had found that getting more customers in the store added profits much in excess of what the sale had cost. He was in the grocery business when he met Linerieux Boone, the young lady who would become his wife and lifelong partner for over sixty years.

"Yours for Keeps". Jim and Linerieux were married in Columbia, South Carolina. With a new bride at his side, more money and maybe a new career were needed. Industrial sales seemed to offer greater personal opportunity than the grocery business, and new innovations in electric welding machines were the product he chose. Through employment with Marquette Manufacturing Company, Jim Turner gained a basic knowledge of the welding industry by selling to automotive and industrial supply distributors. Initially, he sold in the Carolinas, but his territory expanded from Maryland to Florida when he was promoted to district manager. Extensive travel proved to take its toll on their personal life. Mr. Turner was twenty nine and it was time to start a family. Mrs. Turner wrote a letter to him offering to keep his books if he would spend more time at home. On August 30th, 1940, James Austin Turner III was born, followed by Judy Turner on October 9, 1943. Through the encouragement, help, loyalty and determination of Linerieux, the pair founded National Welders Supply Company on May 1, 1941.

With $500.00 cash, a car, confidence and personality, Mr. Turner acted as a manufacturer's agent for some product lines, while carrying a small stock of welding items he could obtain on consignment from different suppliers. Soon he located the business in a leased storefront on South Tryon Street in Charlotte, NC, where, with the help of two of early employees, George Harkey and L. B. Mann, the old "eagle" logo was developed, based on the National symbol. In 1951 the lease ran out on the Tryon Street building and Mr. Turner was forced to move before he was ready. A small, single story building was purchased at 810 Gesco Street near the General Electric Supply Company, and a determination to own property rather than lease was born. Money was always tight, but Mr. Turner, as a natural entrepreneur, used other people's money to his advantage, whether buying on consignment or arranging extended payment terms. As money came in, he was always reinvested, either back into National Welders, or over the counter stocks of competitors (to gain relationships, ideas and financial statements), or often in what would today be called IPO's.

Mr. Turner's other major investment was in people. He personally set the pace and carried the vision. His growing family of employees worked long hours in what were often difficult conditions, knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Turner were probably working longer and harder than anyone else. His focus, always, was to grow the business, and National Welders was a labor of love, as a parent to a child.

World War II presented opportunities to anyone supplying material for manufacturing. Labor was in short supply, so he set up a school to train welders to work in shipyards on the East Coast, advertising for students to "help win the war and earn big wages". He marketed opportunity. He offered low tuition and terms, no deposit, and a pay-after- graduation plan, assuring students they could keep their present jobs while learning electric arc welding.

To Jim Turner, entrepreneur/salesman, business was just a friendly game between himself, customers who thought they had the power to make or break him, and bankers whose approval offered another chance to grow into the future. He never gambled with cards or horses, but he made many bets on business when he thought the odds were in his favor, and he almost always won. Possessing a natural sense for marketing, he understood the laws of supply and demand. Mr. Turner understood, but never feared the risk in every venture, and he believed in his employees and his objectives.

After World War II, Mr. Turner set out to buy every available surplus cylinder. Often, when he had the opportunity to purchase cylinders from the government, he would buy the entire lot, sight unseen. In 1948, Mrs. Turner wanted to buy a coat she had seen in Canada. Mr. Turner said, "Can't afford it now. I'll buy it for you after I finish buying cylinders." Someone, hearing the conversation, turned to Mrs. Turner and said, "You'll never get that coat because he will never finish buying cylinders". Whenever Mr. Turner felt he couldn't afford something for Mrs. Turner, he would use the excuse, "It's not good enough for you!"

His three major competitors, at that time, were Air Reduction Company (Airco), Linde (Praxair), and National Cylinder Gas (NCG). Being the new guy on the block, they would comment there was no way he could compete with them, saying that he thought "big" because he called his company "National". These statements only fueled his competitive nature.

As the business quickly grew, cash flow became a problem, forcing him to go to the bankers to float yet another loan. At one point, creditors cut him off, and he came close to losing the business. Even making payroll was a problem, so the Turners put up their home as collateral to keep the business running. When a North Carolina Bank denied a loan, Mr. Turner went to a New York bank to borrow money, convincing them that he was as "good as his word". Master salesmanship! YES INDEED! The plan and survival of the company was successful due to his iron will and sales ability.

The decade of the fifties was a time of massive growth for the company with the opening of the first satellite store in Florence, SC, and the company's first acquisition, McElvoy Welding Supply in Charleston, SC. Contracts and agreements with Western Electric, Duke Power, Duke University and DuPont ensured expansion. In 1960, Mr. Turner had the idea of forming a buying cooperative using the purchasing power of National Welders and nine other independent welding supply distributors across the country. Welding Engineering Research Company (WERCO) was founded, and for years acted as welding supply wholesaler to the members. Expansion required that WERCO take in associate members, who became customers, then the company re-invented itself as a manufacturer by purchasing Coyne Cylinder and Jackson Products. WERCO decided to go public with it's stock, changed its name to Airgas, and began buying welding distributors. Mr. Turner was always very supportive of these changes, and why not? His initial investment of $30,000 through National Welders had made a fortune for the company through the increased stock values of Airgas.

As the years and decades passed, the visions and goals set by the founder blossomed into reality. Mr. Turner and National Welders had passed from being an entrepreneur with a small company to being the head of a corporation which was too large to be classified as "small business" by the US government. Success was not to be followed by rest, but rather, the rewards of success were to be reinvested in ideas which would shape the company's future. At the age of seventy and eighty, his pace didn't slow; the enthusiasm for new ideas, new products and expansion never wavered; and his belief that each individual employee possessed within him or her the ability to significantly help the company, only grew. He would often push for spending half a million dollars on a new facility, not based on market surveys and projections, but on the enthusiasm shown by the salespeople and managers in the area.

Why were customers and employees so incredibly loyal? He had the ability to treat each customer as his only customer, and he believed each employee was an important asset in helping the company reach its goals. Concern for employees and their families kept him in business, and through the years he never lost that concern. He was just as happy eating bar-b-que on a picnic table with branch employees as sitting in a four star restaurant with corporate presidents. No day to Jim Turner was a work day. He did what he loved best everyday.

When in the summer of his eighty eighth year, doctors determined his bronchial condition would not improve, Mr. Turner would still come to work on days when he felt well enough, because the time had finally come to put his affairs in order. The habits of a lifetime and love for National Welders could not change, even with the passing of time. One of his doctors told the family that when he went into the examination room to see Mr. Turner, he was calmly sitting in the chair with his cell phone conducting business as if he would be there for another fifty years. In final analysis, he was both a simple and complex individual, a person of single minded determination with a will of steel, but who rarely got angry or even upset during a crisis. Mr. Turner was always, and in many ways different from others.