Bill No. 22-47 General Stamping and Metal Works Special Resolution

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Filed in Clerk's Office BILL NO. 22-47 [ OCT 1 ~ 20;2 I SPECIAL RESOLUTION NO. 4981-22 DAWN M. JONES CITY CLERK, SOUTH BEND, IN A SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA CELEBRATING THE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF GENERAL STAMPING & METALWORKS ~ it all began in 1923 , when H.P . Axelberg, the son of a Norwegian immigrant, recognized opportunities with the growth of the Studebaker Organization and the University of Notre Dame; and ~ those opportunities included serving industrial sheet metal needs by designing and building paint booths , dust collectors, and air handling systems for the Studebaker automotive plants and building ventilation systems and metal roofing for Notre Dame, eventually including replacing the gold leaf on the iconic Golden Dome ; and ~ originally named General Sheet Metal Works and located on South Main Street, the company joined many other South Bend Industries in the early 20th century , including the Birdsell Manufacturing Company, Bendix Corporation , Honeywell , South Bend Lathe Works , the O 'Brien Paint Corp., the South Bend Toy Company , South Bend Range and the South Bend Watch Company as an important member of the South Bend business community ; and ~ many industries suffered or failed during the Great Depression, GSMW was sustained by municipal construction projects ; and ~ by the 1940's and the United States' entry into World War II , GSMW took on several projects for Studebaker, as assembly lines were reconfigured to produce equipment for the war effort ; and ~ after the war, residential construction products boomed , creating new metal fabrication opportunities; and ~ as these opportunities increased and demand for sheet metal contracting decreased , metal fabrication became GSMW 's primary focus and it became the principal supplier to Wheel Horse Products , another strong South Bend Company; and ~ customer demand led to the building of a new , dedicated facility in Tomah, Wisconsin, to simplify a major customer 's logistics; and ~ by 2010, the company 's rapid response in producing mounting infrastructure for the secondary energy market led to significant expansion of its stamping, welding and assembly capacities; and ~ now known as General Stamping & Metalworks , the company employs over 250 people in South Bend and approximately 70 in Tomah and is located in a new 190 ,000 square foot factory , strategically located less than a mile from the Indiana Toll Road and U .S. Highway 31 ; and ~ much has changed over the past 100 years , but much has stayed the same with the company continuing to be a valued member of the South Bend busines s community with an Axelberg (John) succeeding his father , Jim , as the owner and operator of the family business.