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Daigle
Brothers,
Inc.
is
a diversified steel fabricator and
machine shop in Tomahawk that has been
in business since 1987.
Daigle Brothers is a customer
driven organization built on
integrity, flexibility, and quality
that supplies structural and
miscellaneous steel for commercial and
industrial building projects
throughout the Midwest.
In addition, DBI also
fabricates steel stairs and hand
rails, and offers services such as
welding repairs, steel sales, custom
fabricating, supplying steel joist and
metal decking, computerized saw
cutting, metal forming and machining
including machine bases and sole
plates. As
an American Institute of Steel
Construction AISC certified shop, DBI
has earned a reputation for excellence
after years of growth through
utilization of new systems and
processes.
In
1987,
at
age
20, Steve Daigle began doing business
with South Side Welding and
Sandblasting in Tomahawk as a
subcontractor. In
1988 he bought the company and
equipment to become sole owner and
operator. Daigle
Brothers Southside Welding and
Sandblasting resulted in 1991 when
Steve partnered with his brother Lee. In
1998 Steve bought out his brother’s
portion of the company and the little
repair shop began repositioning itself
by doing miscellaneous fabrication
work along with sandblasting and
painting for local paper mills and
other companies.
A major turning point for what
is now Daigle Brothers, Inc. came in
1993 when they bid on and were
selected for their first big
structural steel project for the
Tomahawk Middle School.
One
year
later
the
company moved across the street into
what, at the time, seemed like a
well-laid-out building of 30 x 80
feet. The facility has seen many
modifications, including a
7,000-square-foot addition to house
their growing machine shop business.
Equipment in the machine shop includes
a 5” G & L Boring Bar, a Haas
Vertical Machining Center, and a 15
Ton Bridge Crane. In 2007 a small
addition was necessary for the
automated beam transfer shuttles and
conveyors which were designed and
built in house. These help cut down on
handling time and crane use.
DBI,
through
a
lot
of hard work, achieved its goal in
2009 of becoming an American Institute
of Steel Construction certified shop. As
part of the company’s overarching
commitment to quality, it has a full
time employee assigned to maintain
quality control.
In
2006
alone,
DBI
saw gross sales increase by 50%. DBI has
supplied the structural steel for
award-winning commercial buildings and
specialty sites around the state. Steel
fabrication has remained the core, and
they’ve become a frequent contributor
to large commercial buildings
constructed by general contractors
such as The Boldt Company and Miron
Construction. For example, DBI has
been involved with four distinctive
Hummer dealerships; three in the
Wisconsin area and one in Minneapolis.
The Milwaukee-based, Bergstrom
Automotive facility was cited as
“Wisconsin’s Top Project in 2002” by Wisconsin
Builder for its “unique steel
design”.
DBI
has
received
recognition
for the Peninsula Players Theatre in
Door County’s Fish Creek. Much of this
outdoor theatre’s tube steel structure
is uniquely exposed, and the project
was among the winners in a worldwide
competition sponsored by Design Data,
a company that markets SDS/2, a
sophisticated three-dimensional
structural drafting software system. The project,
constructed by The Boldt Company, is
featured in Design Data’s 2007
calendar with prominent mention of
Daigle Brothers as the detailer and
fabricator. DBI
was also a supplier for the UW-Oshkosh
Student Recreation and Wellness
Center, numerous jobs for the Wausau
and Stevens Point school districts,
the Packaging Corporation of America
Tomahawk Mill, and the latest
additions at the new Harley Davidson
facility also in Tomahawk. DBI, in
2007, was awarded the contract for 800
tons of structural steel for the
Riverview Hospital in Wisconsin
Rapids, and in 2008, was awarded the
contract for 1,744 tons of structural
steel for Appleton Medical Center Bed
Tower Addition.
Daigle
Brothers’
drafting
department
uses SDS/2, the standard in the
general computer-aided-design
industry. This
complexity in selection of a
fundamental toolset is indicative of
the sophistication of today’s
structural systems.
Daigle
Brothers’ drafting department has
provided SDS/2 demonstrations to
Tomahawk School District civil
engineering students and to area
technical colleges who are much in
need of exposure to this level of
design technology.
For
the
past
10
years, Daigle Brothers has been
developing an environmental friendly
asphalt patch mix heater, and in 2009,
Daigle Brothers launched Hot Patch. Hot Patch is
an asphalt patch mix heater insert
that fits into any size truck and uses the truck’s own
engine coolant to heat the repair mix. It’s
revolutionary design and ergonomic
features have been marketed at the
2010 International Public Works show
in Boston in September.
Hot Patch units have been
purchased by cities, counties, and
highway departments throughout the
United States, including Alaska. A
distributor from Puerto Rico is now
marketing it to countries in Central
America.
Daigle
Brothers
is
a
member of a small group of Lincoln
County officials, educators, and
business people working together to
bring wind energy and rural broadband
access to Lincoln County. In 2009,
Daigle Brothers funded 2 official site
assessments to determine wind energy
potential at the company’s facility
and in the neighboring town of Irma. In addition,
the company has been involved since
2008 in research to increase broadband
access to members of our rural
community.
To
this
day,
Daigle
Brothers loyalty to customers and
quality maintains the company’s high
business reputation.
Together with the support of
its dedicated employees, Daigle
Brothers will preserve the vision, and
remain committed to the values set
forth since the beginning.
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