A Pilot Point institution is set to close its doors.
Sturm Welding, owned by Dale and Shawn Dollar, will cease all operations except servicing its oxygen and acetylene bottle leases on March 31.
“Part of my responsibilities is to make sure they have what they need when they come in,” Shawn said. “When I shut the door, I have to keep it open for that.”
For nearly 28 years, Shawn and Dale Dollar have been the family and the faces behind Sturm Welding.
The couple, with the help of an SBA loan, purchased the business from Paul Sturm in 1998.
“Dale had worked here for a couple of years before taking over,” Shawn said.
They worked with the original staff they inherited from Sturm, such as Harold Schon who retired in August, and over the nearly three decades of running the business they have trained around 150 employees.
“We had the opportunity to work with a lot of good people here in Pilot Point,” Dale said. “We’ve had a wonderful relationship with all of our customers.”
Those customers range from private property owners to federal contracts.
Sturm Welding had a hand in the construction of many US Army Corps of Engineer Lake dams in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
“That opened up so many doors, for quality control, for safety,” Shawn said. “… We had an impact on a bigger area. … When they couldn’t open the gates at Lake Ray Roberts when the flood in 2005 happened, they called Dale.”
It was work like that that helped earn Dale the nickname of “Dam Man” from Shawn.
“In the meantime, Shawn established a relationship with the SBA taking classes to enhance the company’s growth within the Federal marketplace,” she wrote. “Shawn then became known as a ‘Woman of Steel’ to her friends and cohorts. She traveled to Washington several times as a part of trade conferences with the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the Trea- sury Department.”
Sturm has also worked with the Defense Logistics Agency, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Joint Air Force Base, Sheppard Air Force Base, and Supply Core.
Shawn loved being such a part of the Pilot Point business community for nearly 30 years.
“One of the great things about it was to be able to immerse ourselves in the local economy, which is really great, because we know everybody and everybody knows us,” she said. “… It’s kind of a legacy, and that part of it’s hard to give up.”
Although the Dollars hope to find a new owner who will keep the business going and honor the legacy that it has had in Pilot Point since it was a combination welding-andblacksmith shop, the couple has chosen to close their doors for fabrication and manufacturing until a new owner would be able to take over.
That will happen on Tuesday.
The only service the Dollars will continue to provide at that point will be servicing the bottle leases.
Shawn would encourage small business owners to plan their exit strategy for when they want to retire.
“A lot of people my age run businesses in this town and I guess everywhere,” Shawn said. “We’re Baby Boomers. The Baby Boomers are ready to get out. … Part of the problem is none of us have exit strategies.”
For more information, contact Chad Chance with Ranchman Properties Team at 940-391-3534.
