Learn More About The Faces Behind The Name
Ryan & Briley Gonzalez
Ryan has several accomplishments, one being that he is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Ryan truly loved his job as a 0331 machine gunner. He spent six months of his contract on deployment in Africa and Spain, traveled for a month to Greece for a cross training op, and was stationed all four years of his contract at Camp LeJeune, NC. To add to his list of achievements, he recently completed his courses in Industrial Electronics. In his free time, he enjoys gaming, watching anime, and spending time with his family, especially Tobi.
Briley also has several accomplishments, one being a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing with a concentration in Social Media Marketing. However, if you talk to her long enough, you'll find out that she is most proud of being wife to Ryan and mom to Tobi. Outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, eating good ole Cajun food, and serving at their church, Point Church.
Mat & Lisa Francois
Mat never stops working! To him, working is a hobby. If he's not here at the shop, he's likely to be found working around his property or taking on a task to help out a friend or family. Mat alone has 39 years of mechanic experience and 23 years of sales experience in welding equipment rentals. He started as just a boy working on his bikes and four-wheelers for fun, and in his later teen years he opened his own business, Mat's Mini Machine Shop, working on small engines. (You can also read WeldCo's Backstory below to learn a bit about his later business venture, Francois Custom Repairs.) Mat enjoys being outdoors and going on mountain vacations with his family. Though, his favorite pass time is eating.
Lisa is our cook. She makes sure we're all fed, sometimes all three meals, and she runs errands as needed for the daily operations of the company. Lisa has a degree in Accounting and ran the front office when Francois Customer Repairs was in business. Though, she spent most of her time caring for her girls and Mat. She loves being with her family, going on trips, and gardening.
Weldco's backstory
In 1996, Mat Francois had a dream to open his own welding repair company. Making this dream a reality, Mat and his father (pictured here during the initial building process) started the build of a brand new shop on land right behind his home. With a little time and a lot of hard work, they were finally able to open Francois Custom Repairs. The company remained open for 4 years, and then a great offer with a much larger company came to the table, and Francois Custom Repairs closed.
For the last 27 years the building has remained in the family's name just waiting for its next adventure. Here we are, a full circle moment back to the old grey shop. At the end of 2022, Ryan and Briley, with the encouragement of Mat, decided that they would open the old shop back up as a repair shop. Renovations began in February 2023 to make the shop more efficient, and on April 3, 2023, the shop doors opened to the public again for the first time in 27 years as WeldCo Repairs.