A North Bay company in operation for decades has been deemed bankrupt by the court, and its approximately 50 employees have been let go with severance and pension packages in doubt.
Central Welding & Iron Works was founded by Malcolm (Mac) Yetman and was purchased by partners Glenn Graham and Stefan Thomsen in 1980. Graham later sold his share, and the Thomsen family continued to operate Central Welding, located at 1811 Seymour St. in North Bay. The company billed itself as a world-class bridge fabricator and experienced much business success over the decades. Thomsen passed away in 2021, and the company holdings remained under family control.
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In 2013, when Central Welding had 80 employees working in a 100,000 square-foot facility, the company was touted as the largest, privately owned fabricator of steel bridges in Canada. That year, Central Welding won the Northern Ontario Business Award (NOBA) as Company of the Year with 51+ employees.
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Bankruptcy proceedings were initiated in recent months, and court documents show Central Welding was legally declared bankrupt on Feb. 15 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
On Sept. 5, 2024, 1510610 Ontario Inc. o/a Central Welding & Iron Works filed a "Notice of Intention to Make a Proposal" under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. As part of the process, insolvency and restructuring firm B. Riley Farber oversaw a "Sale and Solicitation Process (SISP)" for Central Welding and the assets of its parent company, Autogene Industries North Bay Inc.
According to various court documents, on Dec. 20, 2024, the court granted the company an extension of 45 days lasting until Feb. 14 but it failed to file the required proposal with the trustee by that date, resulting in Central Welding "being deemed to have made an assignment in bankruptcy on Feb. 15, 2025. The Proposal Trustee was appointed as Trustee of the Estate of the Bankrupt by the Official Receiver, subject to affirmation by the creditors of the Trustee’s appointment."
Online searches for Central Welding and Autogene show the companies as "permanently closed." Efforts to contact the company's ownership and management groups for comment were unsuccessful before publication time.
