Central Maintenance and Welding, Inc. was founded in 1966 by Hank Varnum and two other partners. Since that time, the Varnum family has owned the company and remained heavily involved in the day-to-day operations. Originally founded to serve Florida's burgeoning phosphate industry, CMW has grown to also provide its specialized services to Florida's power generation and other industries as well.
Conrad Varnum
President
CMW's president is Conrad Varnum, the son of CMW's founder, Hank Varnum. Conrad has worked at CMW for more than twenty-five years, and has hands-on experience with every aspect of the company. Conrad is deeply involved with each and every one of our clients and their projects and has personally overseen many of the projects that we have undertaken during his time here. Conrad received his B.S. in Building Construction from the University of Florida.
Randy Coates
Chief Operating Officer
Randall Coates is CMW's Chief Operating Officer. Randy joined the company in 2007 after spending two years with Central as a strategy and management consultant. With over thirty years experience, he has provided strategy direction for Milwaukee Power Tool, Dirt Devil, Homelite, Emerson, Federal Signal, Mosaic, Lloyd's of London, Ryobi, U.S. Sugar and many others. Most recently, he helped the University of Florida establish its Leadership Development Institute in the area of strategy management. Randy has a B.A. and Master's degree from Fairfield University.
Scott Varnum
Secretary & Treasurer
Scott Varnum, another of founder Hank Varnum's sons, currently serves as CMW's Secretary
and Treasurer. Scott has been working at CMW since 1977, first working part-time in the Fabrication shop. Since that beginning, Scott has learned and involved himself in every aspect of CMW's operations, with positions as Journeyman, Foreman, Assistant Superintendent, Superintendent, Project Manager and Estimator. Scott is a graduate of the University of Florida.
Dennis Powell
Project Manager
Dennis has worked in the industrial construction industry for more than thirty-five years. Before joining CMW, Dennis rose through the ranks at Copeland Steel Erectors, Inc. to the positions of Superintendent and Supervisor. As a member of the CMW family, Dennis has been with us for more than twenty years, and he has worked on a number of large projects particularly in the chemical and mining industries.
David Bailey
Project Manager
David Bailey is another of our project managers whose term with CMW has spanned more than two decades. David specializes in chemical processing and mining projects, specifically chemical plant turnarounds.
Steve Bailey
Project Manager
Steve has worked in the construction industry for more than thirty years, and has
been with us since 1980. Steve has worked in numerous capacities for CMW, and
currently works with projects in the chemical processing market.
Steve Harvey
Project Manager
Steve has worked as a supervisor at CMW since 1995, and has overseen a number of projects particularly in the power generation industry. Previous to CMW, Steve worked with such industrial construction firms as Smith industries, Inc. in Tennessee and Richmond Engineering. Steve's work with CMW has included many different facets of fabrication and maintenance outage services.
Billy Willis
Project Manager
Billy has been with CMW since 2003, and currently serves as an Project Manager. Before joining CMW, Billy worked with Plumbers and Pipefitters Locals 123 and 234 as well as Jefferson Smurfit Corp. With CMW, Billy oversees many pipefitting and boiler projects in the power generation market as well as other industrial markets. Billy has served on such committees as the Jacksonville Mill Maintenance Safety Committee, Lock Out/Tag Out Committee, Confined Space Entry Committee, Jacksonville Mill Safety Committee, and Jacksonville Mill Traffic Committee.
Wilbur Allen
Production Manager
Wilbur's experience and hands-on education in the workplace span more than fifty years, with more than forty years experience in heavy industrial construction, maintenance, and shop fabrication. Wilbur received his management training from the University of Florida and the Fales Management Institute. Currently, he serves as a Production and Facilities Manager over two ASME Code fabrication shops , one lightweight structural steel fabrication shop, and equipment maintenance.
Ken O'Berry
Quality Manager
Ken has been with CMW since 2005, and holds the position of Quality Manager. In this position, Ken works to streamline operations, increase efficiency, and improve overall performance quality. He also has experience as a Piping Division manager with CMW. Ken has received numerous certifications, specifically in regards to welding and training.
Charles Justice
Safety Director
Charles began his career in the industry as a boilermaker apprentice in 1973 and has worked for numerous construction companies throughout the United States to his current position as Safety Director at CMW Charles has worked at CMW since 2002, and has more than thirty-one years of experience as a boilermaker. Recently, Charles retired from the Army National Guard as a Colonel.
Chris Pearson
Director of Engineering
Chris joined us from Mosaic Co., where he worked for over twelve years. His experience includes managing multiple capital projects exceeding ten million dollars and managing a sulfuric acid and power production department with more than fifty employees. Chris earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and MBA from the University of South Florida.
