A Tale of Five Sisters

By LOIS BAKER
News Services Editor

Eat your heart out, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox. This is a true story, and it gets better.

Take the "Irish" in Irish Welding Supply Company. It isn't Irish, it's English.

But matriarch Marsha Irish is Irish on her mother's side, which is why several of her daughters are redheads.

Then, consider the company's officers. Pam, the president, has a UB degree in political science. Victoria, the chief financial officer, was a UB music major. Lori, the head of human resources and legal matters, graduated from UB in elementary education.

Granted, there's more to the story. The president may not have an MBA, but she has worked for 25 years for the company her grandfather founded. The music-minded chief financial officer is also a CPA, and the former teacher of young children with special needs also holds a law degree. Together with two other sisters, Holly and Katie, the five women are running a business in a decidedly male milieu.

"It's been very challenging," said Lori Irish-Jones. "People say, 'You're involved with welding?...with big trucks?' But we were all raised in the business. We all worked here during the summers.

"I think initially our male customers still wanted to deal with my father. But any initial reluctance has evolved over time."

Irish-Jones credits The Center for Industrial Effectiveness, based in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, with making the transfer of the business from their parents four years ago much easier.

The people at TCIE have been wonder-

ful to us," she said. "We were at Sycamore Street for 50 years, we were out of space and we needed to move. They came in and did a preliminary assessment of what our needs were in different areas, prepared a time line, helped us to move, helped us select a new computer system.

"They've been a great resource for me," she added. "They've helped me with anything I've needed. We are now doing some training with other women-owned manufacturers."

The Irish family was initially in the coal business, until the advent of natural gas, when it diversified into Irish Welding, Irish Propane and Irish Carbonics, which supplies businesses with juices, bar equipment and soft-drink syrups, in addition to CO2 for dispensing. The family also owns a carbonics business in Rochester.

With TCIE's help, the company just moved to new quarters at 1444 Clinton St. in Buffalo. "It has been the best decision we ever made," said Irish-Jones.

PHOTO BY DON HEUPEL