MOUNT VERNON— When one door closes, another one opens. After 49 years of providing welding service and selling Kubota farm equipment to Knox County, Westenbarger & Son Inc. has closed its doors. The business sold its Parrott Street Extention property to United Precast Inc., closing the deal on Oct. 13.
Westenbarger & Son Inc. was originally founded by Rolland “Bud” and Edna Westenbarger under Certified Welding in 1959, offering repairs for equipment to local businesses, farms and the city parks department, explained Thomas Westenbarger, former owner. He was 12 years old when his father started the business, and he can remember when his father built the east part of the building.
“He added [the west side of the building] on in 1964 when dad did government contract work during the Vietnam War; he did some defense contracts for the Army,” he said.
According to Westenbarger, his father was the first to build a business on Parrott Street; at that time, the road was only gravel. He knows because he remembers the flood of 1959.
“[My father] had the footer poured and some tools stored down there, then the flood came and washed it all away, and he had to start all over again. ... I know everything got washed down the river, the dry creek there.”
Westenbarger said he was getting out of the business because the market for wielding has changed immensely over the years; these changes make it hard for a small, family-run company to keep up the pace.
Westenbarger grew up in the family business watching the industrial park of Mount Vernon grow and change.
“The only time I was away from the business was when I was in the service, about three years in the military,” he said.
“A lot of businesses are moving this way from the east end,” he said, referring to Coshocton Avenue. He has seen a lot of growth in industry, and sees the potential for more company growth.
“I will miss dealing with people,” he said.
Although the business required much of his time, he said he enjoyed working with community members on finding the right part for their equipment.
“Getting out, helping the customers solve their problems with their equipment; trying to get parts and service for them,” is what he said he enjoyed most.
The company sold and serviced industrial, farm, lawn and garden equipment. At one time, the company had 11 employees, including family members, and its biggest service was repairing and selling tractor parts.
United Precast Inc. has turned the three-part building into its seventh plant, but it is only using the back portion of the building.
“Right now, United Precast is using it to produce reinforced earth walls,” said John Ellis, president and general manager. “Those are retaining walls you see along the highway whenever they put in an overpass, or when one road goes over another.”
The walls are made of special concrete poured at 4,000 PSI and take about 16 hours to complete.
“Normal concrete gets 4,000 PSI concrete in 28 days and we are getting it in 16 hours — that is how specialized that concrete is,” said Ellis. “You have passed miles of the stuff and didn’t know what it was.”
He said the front part of the building on Parrott Street will be available for rent.
