In this issue’s executive Q&A, NAM talked to Conn-Weld President Marvin Woodie, who is helping the company celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2025 – as he personally marks his upcoming 45th anniversary of involvement with the processing supply manufacturer.
He has certainly watched it grow right before his eyes, from 152 workers in 1986 when he arrived at Conn-Weld headquarters in Bluefield, W.Va., to today’s payroll of 325 employees. Calling the company’s people its greatest asset, he is looking forward to continuing that growth as he remains grounded in the Appalachian Mountain region that he has called his lifelong home.
NAM: Please share your story. How did you get into mining, and what was your journey to today?
Woodie: I come from a mining community in southern West Virginia. My grandfather, David Rhonder Woodie, mined coal and had his own operation in 1927. In 1929, the market collapsed, and so did my grandfather’s operation. He lost his mining business and much of his livelihood. My grandfather went back into the mining business around the time of World War II. My father, Marvin Woodie, followed his dad into the coal mining industry as well and, in the late 1950s, they sold their mining interests and bought other businesses.
I got my degree in mechanical engineering in 1985 from West Virginia University. After working on a 5,000-acre ranch and farm to help pay my way through school, I was offered a summer internship at Conn-Weld Industry by James D. Connolly, a brilliant man and founder of the company. He called me and asked what I was doing; I told him I was working on a ranch and farm. He said, “You are hired.” I responded, “You never asked about engineering.” He told me he would make an engineer out of me. He knew I would work if I worked on a ranch and farm.
After my summer internship, he offered me a full-time position at Conn-Weld, and I have been here ever since. I have helped design and build screening equipment for many different types of mining operations around the world.
I started full-time at Conn-Weld in 1986; I was from McDowell County, Welch specifically, and even more specifically, Roderfield. I knew mining from both a practical standpoint and a more empirical standpoint as well. Once onboard at Conn-Weld, I started as a project engineer designing tooling that built our products, commissioning and operating equipment that built our product and helping install systems in our manufacturing plant that built our product.
I got into field service and sales throughout my tenure at Conn-Weld, as well. I became VP of Field Operations in 1997 and started on the path of developing global opportunities for Conn-Weld. We grew our product footprint in China, Russia, Australia, Africa, India, Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico and many places in Asia.
I became president in 2020 when the Connolly family decided to sell the business after Jim Connolly passed away in 2014. Our current owner Cliff Forrest, owner of Rosebud Mining, a metallurgical coal operator in and around Kittanning, Pa., bought us. He was our customer and knew the value of our product and our business. We have had steady growth by adding buildings, equipment and, most importantly, quality people to our business.
How did your road in the industry align with the growth and changes of Conn-Weld?
Conn-Weld was founded in a garage in 1975. I came on board in 1985. I have seen us grow and been part of that growth of going from 60 people and 60,000 square feet of production to over 300 people and 500,000 sq. ft. of production space. We have offices and warehouses today in Madisonville, Ky., Blairmore, Alberta, Canada, and Springtown, Texas. Being president of Conn-Weld has given me the opportunity to grow our business in an exciting manner that has led to selling our products all over the world.
How important is it for mining, and especially coal mining, to have family-owned and operated entities in today’s mining world?
We believe in family-owned mining industries, especially in the coal industry. Family-owned businesses are more nimble and can make quick decisions when it comes to capital investments in the companies they operate. Family-owned OEMs also have the ability to supply equipment much faster and support the industries served in a more expedient fashion. Everything from design, engineering, order entry, fabrication, shipping and commissioning can be managed with better and faster decision-making.
What changes have driven the last few decades in the processing sector? What do you feel will drive the next ones?
I believe there have been negative and positive changes. Data gathering techniques for production have been the best and most cost-effective positive change. Data gathering for mine safety, mine production, mine maintenance and mine planning are also great assets to drive growth. However, I see a demand for better workforce skills. Even with the best data and information about equipment maintenance, without a skilled, knowledgeable workforce, the data will not help in the most effective way.
Everyone talks about the technology that has and is changing the future of mining. What role do you hope Conn-Weld will have in that?
The most effective way Conn-Weld contributes to the technology for our equipment is monitoring devices that show how our equipment is performing. There needs to be skilled and knowledgeable people that know how to use the equipment and technology in order to harness the effectiveness of the data that the equipment provides. Just taking samples of equipment performance is not enough. The samples need to be evaluated correctly. The correct evaluation of data sampling can lead to the best long-term performance of equipment used in the mine.
Conn-Weld is constantly designing new ways to drive vibration in equipment and is also looking at building and designing new types of equipment – not just vibrating screen equipment but screen media and other equipment – to best serve the mining industry.
AI will assist with these designs in the future as well. Artificial Intelligence is not quite at the point where it can design equipment safely and with the best outcome, but it is getting close.
What is something people might not know about you?
I have traveled to every continent but one. That one is Antarctica. I hope to go there one day to say I have stepped foot on them all.