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Four Generations of Fabrication Excellence |
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| In 1932, J.T. Edwards, Sr. started fabricating steel in his
brother-in-laws garage in Grandview Heights. By day, he would drive his Model-T
Ford around town looking for job sites and seeing if they needed any steel. In
the evenings he and his brother-in-law would fabricate the steel and then J.T.
would deliver the steel to the job site on top of the Model-T.
Often times, his wife and two oldest sons would accompany him on these
delivery trips.
After several business location moves, J.T. Edwards, Sr. bought a parcel of land on McKinley Ave. and built a small office and fabricating shop to be known as the J.T. Edwards Company. The business grew fabricating ornamental iron, miscellaneous metals, and structural steel. During World War II, while his two oldest sons were both in the service, J.T. fabricated steel decks for LST Landing Crafts. After WWII, and finishing their college educations, the two oldest sons, J.T. Edwards, Jr. and Dave Edwards, Sr. started working full time at the company. A Changing Columbus |
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| As Columbus started to grow in the 50’s, the brothers poised the company to take advantage of the larger tonnage structural steel jobs to come. One of the first was Riverside Methodist Hospital. Then came a long line of large structural jobs in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s: the Borden Building, Motorist Mutual, Bank One, Bank Ohio, Capital South Office Building, Huntington Bank Tower, The Woody Hayes Center, The Wexner Center, AEP Tower, Columbia Gas, Columbus Police Hdqtrs., to name a few. The Edwards family gained recognition not only in Ohio, but also nationally as a leader in the steel fabrication business. J.T., Sr. taught his sons by example about being involved both in industry organizations as well as local service organizations and charities. This has been passed down through the generations. One of the most visible recognitions is “The City” steel sculpture by artist Barbara Chavous. Over one hundred representatives of the Central Ohio construction industry commissioned the sculpture in 1990. The sculpture resides in Bicentennial Park downtown. In 2006, the company donated the “Steel Connection Sculpture” (picture above) to The Ohio State University Department of Engineering. | ||
As Columbus started to grow in the 50’s, the brothers poised the company to take advantage of the larger tonnage structural steel jobs to come. One of the first was Riverside Methodist Hospital. Then came a long line of large structural jobs in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s: the Borden Building, Motorist Mutual, Bank One, Bank Ohio, Capital South Office Building, Huntington Bank Tower, The Woody Hayes Center, The Wexner Center, AEP Tower, Columbia Gas, Columbus Police Hdqtrs., to name a few. The Edwards family gained recognition not only in Ohio, but also nationally as a leader in the steel fabrication business. J.T., Sr. taught his sons by example about being involved both in industry organizations as well as local service organizations and charities. This has been passed down through the generations. One of the most visible recognitions is “The City” steel sculpture by artist Barbara Chavous. Over one hundred representatives of the Central Ohio construction industry commissioned the sculpture in 1990. The sculpture resides in Bicentennial Park downtown. In 2006, the company donated the “Steel Connection Sculpture” (picture above) to The Ohio State University Department of Engineering.
Building Strong Relationships
Today the third and fourth generations now operate what is known as Edwards Steel. Dave Edwards, Jr. is the President and his two sons Jon and Sean work in production and sales respectively. The business has had to change since the large tonnage jobs became few and far between in the late 80’s. Today Edwards Steel concentrates it’s expertise on light structural steel and miscellaneous metals projects. The strong relationships that Edwards Steel has forged over the years now pays off in clients that trust the Edwards team to get the job done right from sales quotations through fabrication and installation. The “Quality and Service” standard is still Edwards Steel in Central Ohio. “We all take great pride in the job we do for our customer and the buildings owner. All of our managers have over twenty years experience in the steel fabrication business and have a great rapport with our suppliers, associates and customers.” Dave Edwards, Jr. says. Edwards Steel is also an AISC Certified Fabrication Shop and must meet stringent requirements annually to maintain its certification. Sean Edwards, the most recent addition to the family business, said “Many people seek us out because of the experience and reliability of our associates and the fact that the “Edwards Commitment to Excellence” has been passed from generation to generation for 75 years. Our customers and our employees take comfort in that knowledge.”
Exceptional Projects
In seeking a company with the expertise to do projects out of the ordinary, Edwards Steel has fabricated many unique projects over the years. Most recently projects such as the Columbus College of Art and Design “ART” sign (picture above), Franklin Universities “Graduation Cap” over Rich Street downtown, the Bank of Boston Pavilion’s 300 foot arch truss (picture above) are a few that can be viewed on Edwards Steels’ web site www.edwardssteel.com.
Communication is Key
The only central Ohio fabricator to send out a weekly “Job Status Report” to its customers on every job is Edwards Steel. The report communicates the status of every item on the job for the project manager and site superintendent to review. “We continue to work at being the best communicators in the construction industry.” Dave Edwards, Jr. says. Trust between partners building a project makes for a successful job on all fronts. Communication is the foundation for such trust. People have trusted Edwards Steel for 75 years