On April 1, 1966, Pat Godwin came home from work and told his wife, Judy, that he had delivered his last case of soft drinks as a route salesman for Pepsi Cola. Mom yelled, "April Fools!" Dad said, "It may be April fools Day, but I will not be going back." They had two toddlers in diapers at that time, and realizing he had quit a good, steady job, Mom cried for weeks.
Mom had a job as a cashier at a local grocery store and when she left for work each day, Dad
would unplug the electric stove and plug in his welder that was situated in a detached garage.
Dad would do repairs on farm equipment, make trailer hitches, and whatever came along that
needed welding. When mom came home from work, she would unplug the welder and plug the
stove in to cook for the night. One of the first truck beds he made was in the backyard with mom
standing on the floor, so he could weld it to the structure. Upon outgrowing the backyard shop,
the company moved to a rented building behind the police department in the early 70s. By now,
mom was working full-time at the business doing billing, payroll, accounts payable and receivable,
and answering the telephone.
As the business grew to approximately 8 to 10 employees, it was time to move again. At the time, they bought two acres of land southeast of town on US 421. There they built an 80 x 80-foot building where the product line expanded to include all types of trailers, flatbeds, hoists, frame work, a boom truck for putting up signs, portable welding, and in-house repairs.
In 1979, the name was changed from Godwin Welding Service to Godwin Manufacturing Company, Inc. During the
mid-70s to early 80s, the original building was added on to five times to accommodate growth. It was during this time
that a building was acquired next door to house the hydraulic division to make cylinders for our new line of hoists we are
now manufacturing.
It was decided that the different departments needed their own space. So a new project was started in the mid-80s to build separate buildings for installation, assembly, warehouse, and paint. Fabrication kept the original building. By then we were manufacturing flat beds, contractor beds, many models of hoists, rollback carriers, roll-off units, and doing booming municipal contract business. In the early 90s, we had continued to grow, and acquired existing property and buildings that add up to 156 acres and a total of 345,000 square feet under roof.
A current addition is a daycare for our employees' children at no cost to the employee. The daycare is owned and operated by the company. We are proud that it is a modern facility with all credentials to offer a structured program for our employees' children. The company is a family owned and operated business with approximately 175 employees. The family includes Pat Godwin, Sr., Judy Godwin, Semi-Retired, Pat Godwin Jr. as Vice President, Pamela G. Faircloth as Office Manager, Phyllis G. Norris as Personnel Manager, and it goes on with grandchildren working at the business as well.
We hope you can now see that we are a family dedicated to giving you, the customer, a product that you can be as proud of as we were making it for you. Be part of our present and future. If you were part of our past, thank you, for you helped us get here.
James P. Godwin, Jr.
Vice President, Godwin Manufacturing
