DAN STOLHAND
Operations Manager
Dan started his career straight out of High school while attending College courses at night. His start was with a Defense Contractor supporting both Naval and Air Force contracts over a span of 8 years. He started as a Draftsmen producing electrical and Mechanical drawings. During this employment he expanded his knowledge not only in Engineering and Electronics, but also gaining knowledge in DOD engineering standards. He advanced to department manager after 2 years on the job and advanced his engineering knowledge in this position for the next 6 years. In early 1986, Dan relocated to the Chicago lllinois area and chose to enter the Architectural industry. His starting position was as a support draftsmen for a medium sized firm. Within 6 months he was promoted to a Junior Architect role and given several clients involving commercial and residential design and contract management. It was at this position that he became very knowledgeable in construction codes, structural and architectural design, and client relationships. These project budgets ranged from the low $1000,000's to several million dollar's which covered a variety of construction project styles.
In 1990, Dan relocated his family to the Tulsa area and began working in the Ornamental stair and rail industry. Within a couple of years he was promoted to the Engineering Department Manager and also was tasked with trouble shooting projects from time to time due to his wide range of experience in the construction practices. Within the next year he also took on the duties of project management for projects. In this position he was responsible for projects from design, through fabrication and QA, and then through installation. His knowledge expanded rapidly in all aspects of metal fabrications including welding procedures, acquisition of materials, quality assurance, and customer interactions. During this time several advances were developed in the fabrication phases that produced projects with greater efficiency and quality.
In mid 2001, Dan chose to start his own stair and rail company which was in operation for a little over 2 years. This was a ground up new start but a client base quickly grew within the first month of operation. The first project contracted was Multiple Stairs and Glass rails for a 22 million dollar Beach Residence. Dan's past experience and knowledge allowed his company to quickly gain confidence with new customers and within a year, the back log grew to approx. 3 million dollars and employed 12 to 15 people. After careful consideration, Dan made the decision to close his company and join Equus Metals bringing several active projects and customers with him. He entered the company in the position of Senior Project Manager and with the broader understanding of the business, he brings his past knowledge of management along with a stronger business sense to his tasks.
At Equus, Dan also manages the Engineering Department and is responsible for bringing projects from the initial sale through design, fabrication, installation, and completion. His wide range of construction and manufacturing knowledge brings a decided advantage to the Equus team. His experience can be and is called on in various departments of the Company to strengthen Equus's position in the Ornamental Metals Industry.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Product Sales
Estimating
Fabrication and Production Control
Project Management