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. Conrad is an Owner of CMW
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. Randy is an Owner of CMW.
Chris Pearson, P.E.
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.
Brian Shepherd
Safety Director
Brian began his career with the Upjohn Company as a Customer Service Representative and was employed with them for 18 years in various roles. The last 7 years of his career with them (when ownership changed to The Land O' Lakes Company) he served as the Southeast Regional Distribution Manager. Brian has served on several Safety Committees with Upjohn, Terra Industries and Pepsi and was the primary Safety Manager and Trainer for Agriliance while still with Land O'Lakes. At CMW, Brian previously held the position of Safety Coordinator and then as the Warehouse and Purchasing Manager. Brian is currently working toward the BCSP Certification.
Kirk Williams
Quality Manager
While attending Southern Illinois University, Kirk Williams worked on the Mississippi River repairing barges and eventually the operation of a high pressure boiler. From there, Kirk worked as a construction boilermaker for 10 years as a Qualified Welder then progressed to a Foreman/Superintendent. Kirk then worked for the Boiler Division of the Office of the State Fire Marshall for three years obtaining a National Board Commission. He next moved into the insurance industry where he worked as an Authorized Inspector and an Authorized Inspection Supervisor for 25 years for Kemper Insurance, Factory Mutual Insurance and Arise Insurance. Kirk's National Board Commission Number is 10374 with an "A" (fabrication and repair/alteration of boilers and pressure vessels), a "B" endorsement (Authorized Inspection Supervisor) and an "N' endorsement (Fabrication of Nuclear Parts). Kirk has prepared over 600 ASME fabrication shops/NB repair shops for their ASME/NB audits.
William (Bill) LaPalm Jr.
Operations Manager
Bill has 12 years experience in the pressure vessel and manufacturing industry. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, and his Master of Science in Engineering Management from Milwaukee School of Engineering. Bill's manufacturing experience started with his time working first for Silvan Industries as a Project Manager coordinating the design, fabrication, and shipping of specialized pressure vessels. Bill then spent ten years as a Manufacturing Engineer working for Ansul Incorporated. There he led various cost reduction projects, implemented new product lines, did drafting, provided shop support, provided supervision, and conducted maintenance work. Bill has instructed and led teams for Lean Manufacturing and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
