Fabriweld Corporation 2008
David Price is driven. Long after most men are retired, Price continues to work, spreading a forty year reservoir of expertise and knowledge in the steel fabrication, forming, and machining industry to a team of over 100 fabricators and tradesmen now under the leadership of his oldest son, Chris.
“It is a fascination of working with metal,” Price said, “forming metal, creating something out of raw materials.” He stops for a moment, “I love to bend things. I love to make things. The more I could bend them, the fancier I could make them, and the more intricate I could make them the more fun it was.”
Dave Price launched the Fabriweld Corporation in 1971. When the doors opened, Price had a welder, drill press, assorted hand tools, and a week’s worth of work. His wife Faith performed the office tasks in the evening after working as the Office Manager of a local new and used car dealer. Almost immediately, a local shop in Norwalk, Frederick Machine Works, began referring customers to Fabriweld.
As the word spread and Fabriweld became busier, equipment was purchased, enabling Price to begin employing people. According to Faith, the need for quality employees was the number one value to the company. “Dave never asked anyone to do anything that he wouldn’t do himself,” Faith said. “He would be right in there doing it with the employee no matter how tough or dirty it was.”
“It was important,” Dave Price continued, “that everyone had a good place to work, and they had quality equipment to work with. They were paid well, and they were treated well.”
Faith pointed out; however, that it didn’t mean it was easy. “Dave asked a lot of his employees, but compensated accordingly.” David Price and the first welder
Price added, “It’s important that you have respect for the employee and the employee has respect for you in order to push forward.”
In the early 70’s, Norwalk, Ohio was in a good geographic position to support many companies. It served as a statewide hub for the transportation, automotive, manufacturing, food processing, steel, and construction industries. Fabriweld filled a void for these businesses, providing a wide range of capabilities, including custom fabricated pieces and repair work. Utilizing Price’s raw talent for metal fabrication and competitive drive to build the best machines, the Fabriweld Corporation grew at a rapid, steady pace.
As the business expanded in his small shop, Price planned ahead by purchasing thirty five acres on the East Side of town and began plans to build his own facility. The building was constructed in 1979. The total square footage of the shop on Eastpark Dr. was 12,000 square feet, with ample room on all sides for future expansions.
The increasing space fed the increase in employees which allowed Fabriweld to handle even larger projects. And soon, Price needed to develop a new company whose purpose was manufacturing, as Fabriweld became more specialized in concept and design.
In 1989, Price launched David Price Metal Services, which would serve as the manufacturing arm of Fabriweld. In 1991, Dave and Faith’s son Chris joined the company, bringing an intuitive understanding of mechanical engineering coupled with a competitive drive to preserve the rapid growth of the company with an increasing focus on new equipment and technology.
The equation worked. The 1990’s brought a surge in growth to the Price properties. In addition to purchasing new equipment and focusing on new customers, Chris Price began implementing a change that his father is the first to admit was a direction where he failed to move. “I didn’t push hard enough for computers when they first came out. We were too slow.”
Under Chris’s leadership, the facility was expanded to its present capacity of 100,000 square feet. He would also implement a grand design in computer technology, streamlining processes and eliminating an endless array of paperwork with new equipment and programming, all for the benefit of the customer.
“Our focus on the new technology and equipment,” Chris said, “enabled our customers to receive their parts at a cost effective price and a faster delivery time.” Price’s skill at drawing new customers launched Fabriweld and David Price Metal Services into a new era of manufacturing, which was bolstered by a fleet of CNC machinery, a Bystronic Laser, and Burn Table.
Adopting his father’s tenacity to tackle any project, Price soon expanded his workforce to over 100 people, drawing on personnel both eager to be trained on new processes as well as having an intuitive knowledge and grasp of steel and machines. Dave Price and the team
In 2003, Chris Price added a new service to the field of manufacturing, a complete finish coating line called Pinnacle Powder Coating, Inc. Pinnacle allowed Price to offer custom finishing at an effective cost. Following the establishment of Pinnacle, new customers lined up, eager to partner with a one stop shop having the ability to design, manufacture, and finish coat.
In 2005, Chris expanded the scope of Fabriweld by purchasing a company in Solon, Ohio vested in the manufacture and distribution of asphalt plant replacement parts. Fabriweld-Solon brings a new line of customer’s into Fabriweld’s growing family, bolstered by strength in manufacturing, design, and customer service.
With son Chris at the helm, Dave and Faith, after forty plus years of marriage, began focusing on a semi-retirement lifestyle which followed Dave Price’s love of motorsports. Price began racing at an early age, and has participated in a wide variety of competitions. He first mastered motorcycle racing, ending his career with a Class A Enduro license. Dave and Faith, along with their younger son Kevin, competed together in 4WD racing for several years. In this arena, Dave became an award winning Four Wheel Drive Competitor, with many wins to his credit.
Dave Price, IHRA World Champion Faith Price proved the couple’s success in motorsports was not limited to Dave’s driving. As a member of the Firelands 4WD Association during the 80’s, Faith piloted her Jeep to the Women’s Championship. After winning the women’s crown, “I decided I would rather race in the men’s class competition and lose,” Faith said, “Rather than win racing the women every week.”
Faith underestimated her own skill, and soon defeated the men in her class and became the champion. “When I felt I had finished competing, I then moved into the Administration of the East Coast 4WD Association and became the Chairman of the Ohio region.”
Finally, Dave and Faith Price set across the country on the International Hot Rod Association’s World Championship circuit. During that time, Price set the World Record ET for a sportsmen vehicle on a quarter mile course, and won the World Championship in 1998.
Today, Fabriweld and DPMS continue to expand. Serving customers in all corners of the United States, as well as Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia, the Price family’s legacy in metal fabrication will continue for many decades to come.
From the moment Dave Price started fabricating in his garage in the 60’s, the company has grown to its present capacity of over 100 employees spanning three properties and over 150,000 square feet of industrial space.
“Fabriweld began officially in 1971,” Dave remembers, “But I think I scribbled the name on a piece of paper as early as ’67 or ’68, so it was always a dream of mine.”
The dream was recognized by the City of Norwalk in 2007 when the Price Family was awarded The Golden Maple, for continuing excellence in manufacturing and community commitment.
It takes a champion to make a dream become reality. The best part of all is Dave Price brought a lot of people with him along the way.
