When Lawrence Industries was founded in 1976, Raymond “Ray” Weidt did not expect to take on complete ownership. However, within the first three months of business, founder Lawrence “Larry” Ridinger was diagnosed with cancer and died. Ray, who had worked for Larry at a previous heat-treat facility and helped with the opening of Lawrence Industries, took over and continued to build the business.
Ray’s son Robert “Bob” Weidt and son-in-law Dale Kimminau began working for the company in 1987. A second son-in-law, Terry Fitz, began working in 1988. In 1992, Ray began a 10-year transfer of ownership to Bob, Dale and Terry. In 1998, Dale sold his interest in the company to pursue other business ventures. Bob and Terry completed the transfer of ownership in 2002 and continue to run the business today. While Ray is now retired, he still comes to the plant regularly to see the various parts and projects and to offer advice.
In January 2003, Lawrence Industries attained ISO 9001 certification for its quality management system. As of October 2011, Lawrence Industries is the only commercial heat-treat facility in Nebraska that has attained ISO 9001 certification.
Beginning in 2007, Terry began passing his interest in the company to three of his sons, Brian, Kevin, and Daniel. This marks the third generation of family ownership of the company. Terry retired from the company circa 2020.
In March of 2023 Brian, Kevin and Terry worked towards selling their interest in the company to venture off in their own pursuit, a deal was finalized in March of 2024, making Robert Weidt the sole owner of Lawrence Industries. We wish Brian, Kevin, and Terry well on their next adventures and thank them for their time at Lawrence Industries as they helped the past success that the company has had.
In March of 2024, Robert converted over 4 successors that Robert hand picked into the company to help lead future endeavors and leadership at Lawrence Industries, Chris and Nathaniel Weidt, his sons, to continue the family legacy of keeping the business in the family. His nephew Andrew Brandt as well as Greg Thompson who was one of the people to train Andrew Brandt in his younger career as a manager. Greg and Andrew will be mentors for Chris and Nathaniel in the leadership side of the business while Chris and Nathaniel will be mentors of the heat-treating part of the business for Andrew and Greg.
With over 150 years of combined experience on staff, Lawrence Industries continues to expand and grow its customer base. It now heat-treats parts for companies in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois, Oklahoma and Missouri. Some of our customers have included Dutton-Lainson, Dana Corporation, Eaton Corporation, Parker-Hannifin, Case-New Holland, Kurt Manufacturing, Stein Manufacturing and many others. Whether you need millions of parts processed or just a single piece, we have the experience to help.