History
Yakima Steel Fabricators was formed in 1977 by Mervin and Sharon Wark. The company's original purpose was to provide metal fabrication and maintenance services to the Boise Cascade Corporation which had several facilities in Yakima at the time providing milling operations for the Pacific Northwest. In addition to providing these services to Boise Cascade, the company provided metal fabrication services to other local companies.
Over time the company expanded into new businesses. In 1980, Leonard Jetton Jr. joined the company to assist the company in providing services in the Structural Division. The Structural Division specializes in the fabrication of metal structures including buildings, tanks, staircases and handrails. The company also maintains installation and erection crews that provide services to area construction companies for building construction.
In 1986, Bern Ilenstine joined the company and started the Rebar Division to provide rebar to local construction companies for commercial buildings including wastewater treatment plants, schools, bridges, warehouses, office buildings, movie theatres and dams.
In 1993, the company started the Machine Shop Division and Steel Service Center divisions.
In 2006, John Gehlsen purchased the company.
Vision Statement
To be the best steel supplier in Central Washington by providing quality products and services to our customers.
People
John Gehlsen is the President/Owner of Yakima Steel which he purchased in 2006. John has over 15 years of manufacturing and systems experience with several Fortune 50 companies.
John is responsible for the overall management of the company, including establishing the company performance objectives and managing the four company divisions (structural, rebar, machine shop and steel service center). John takes a hands on approach to management and works with his team to make sure that each employee is valued for their contributions and that each customer is fully satisfied with the work that we do.
John began his career at IBM in 1989 manufacturing mainframe computer systems in Poughkeepsie, NY and Rochester, MN. Upon gradation, he spent 2 years at Intel in Chandler, AZ, designing and deploying shop floor control systems for assembly and test facilities. He then moved to Chicago, IL and worked for Motorola for two years where he designed automated systems for building cell phones. In 1996, John moved to Redmond, WA to work for Microsoft where he worked on SQL Server, Windows NT, MSN and Xbox.
John attended Iowa State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering in 1990. He then attended the Georgia Institute of Technology where he received a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1992 and a Masters of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering in 1993. He has certificates from Georgia Tech in Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems and Management of Technology and is a graduate of the Executive Development Program at the University of Washington's Business School.
Dawna has been at Yakima Steel since 2004. She was born and raised in Lewiston, Idaho where she attended Lewiston High School and Walla Walla Community College. She started her career at an insurance company and moved to Yakima in 1997 to work in the accounting field. In 2007-2008 she went to Yakima Valley Community College and took Principles of Accounting I, II, & III. Dawna manages all of the office functions including HR and accounting.
April was born and raised in the Yakima Valley. She attended Eisenhower High School and is currently enrolled at the University of Phoenix working towards her AA in accounting. She started working in the accounting field at a local car dealership and then joined Yakima Steel in August 2007. April manages all of the AR and AP for the company.
Jessica was born and raised in the Yakima area and attended Selah High School. Before coming to Yakima Steel she worked at Selah Gym and the Sub Shop of Yakima. She started working at yakima Steel in April 2008.