Joplin and Visalia Named Airgas National Branch of the Year Winners

Airgas, Inc. announced the winners of its National Branch of the Year trophies, which honor the best of its more than 850 local branches nationwide.

The winners, based on fiscal 2009 performance, were the Joplin, MO, branch in Airgas Mid South among the large branches and the Visalia, CA, branch in Airgas Northern California and Nevada among the small branches.

"These two represent the best of the best Airgas branch locations, since they were chosen from among the 24 Regional Branch of the Year winners selected in the past few weeks," said Mike Molinini, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Airgas, Inc. "I'm proud to name Joplin and Visalia as this year's top branches."

This is the fifth year Airgas has recognized its top large and small branches for the Airgas Branch of the Year awards. The honor is based on customer service, financial performance and safety performance.

"The 17 associates in the Joplin branch, led by Branch Manager Richard Gorman, collaborated to attain high service levels and earn new business. They also simultaneously reduced expenses and beat their financial targets, which is no small feat considering the challenging economy," added Molinini. He also recognized the Joplin branch as leaders in safety practices with an impressive safety record, and cited a high frequency of favorable customer feedback, all of which contributed to their selection as Airgas Branch of the Year.

"In the small branch category, the winner is Visalia, in Airgas Northern California and Nevada. Branch Manager Mark Estavillo led this five-person branch to exceed their financial targets by making customer service a key component of daily life. They have been developing a customer-centric culture from their start in December 2005, and just as important, they have a clean safety record since the doors opened," Molinini noted.

As the National Branch of the Year winners, the two branches will soon display National Branch of the Year trophies, constructed from size 125 cylinders donated by Taylor-Wharton, which have been powder-coated platinum and mounted on a welded aluminum base.

The winning branches will also fly a "2009 National Branch of the Year" banner, and associates will receive silver "Branch of the Year" rings to commemorate the honor.

The 24 Regional Branch of the Year winners also fly a similar banner and display a size 80 cylinder, powder-coated gold trophy. Following is a full list of the small and large branch winners for each region:

Airgas East: Chambersburg, PA; Harrisburg, PA; Airgas Great Lakes: Hemlock, MI; Worthington, OH medical branch; Airgas National Welders: Fayetteville, NC; Wilmington, NC; Airgas Intermountain: Craig, CO; Cheyenne, WY; Airgas Mid America: Christiansburg, VA; Madisonville, KY; Airgas Mid South: Conway, AR; Joplin, MO; Airgas Northern California & Nevada: Visalia, CA; Redding, CA; Airgas Nor Pac: Hillsboro, OR; Bellingham, WA; Airgas North Central: Manitowoc, WI; Aurora, IL; Airgas South: Palatka, FL; Orlando, FL medical branch; Airgas Southwest: Big Spring, TX; Hobbs, NM; Airgas West: Mesa, AZ; Bakersfield, CA.

Based in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Airgas, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, and hardgoods, such as welding equipment and supplies.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

Related terms: arizona, arkansas, california, economy, executive, florida, gold, industrial, kentucky, local, medical, nevada, new mexico, north carolina, pennsylvania, platinum, president, silver, texas, virginia, wisconsin, wyoming