Page 64 B y F r a nk Giorno I f y ou w an t t o e xper ienc e the r eal hea v y metal tur n of the M etallica Y ou T ube video r emo v e the head phones and head do wn t o Lake head I r on w or ks 29000 squar e f oot shop sta t e of the ar t fabr ica tion fa cilit y in T hunder Ba y On tar io Lakehead I r on w or ks I nc w as f ound ed b y Josef Q uast in 1976 I n 1990 the business w as taken o v er b y his son U w e Q uast who is still P r esiden t of the C ompan y W hen m y dad star t ed the c ompan y it w as k no wn as Lakehead Or namen tal I r on w or ks r ecalls U w e Q uast M y dad w as a br ick la y er b y tr ade fr om the old c oun tr y U w e Q uast said O v er the y ears Lakehead I r on w or ks has g r o wn fr om a 2500 squar e f oot shop t o a 29000 squar e f oot sta t e of the ar t fabr ica tion facilit y and no w car r ies 1000 t ons of S t eel I n v en t o r y U w e Q uast the P r esiden t of the c ompan y said U w e Q uast star t ed w or k ing a t his dad s c ompan y par t time when he w as 14 af t er school and dur ing sum mer holida y s On c ompleting high school in 1979 U w e became a full time emplo y ee in a family business in v olving his fa ther and mother I t s main line of w or k w as st eel stairs and r ailings and w e w er e good a t it sta t ed Q uast I n 1990 Josef Q uast r etir ed and sold the equipmen t f or 20000 U w e Q uast decided t o f ocus on the mor e c ommer cial struc tur al business and metal fabr ica tions Lakehead I r on w or ks had been inc or por a t ed and emer ged out Josef s Lakehead Or na men tal I r on w or ks F r om the 1990 s all the w a y t o 2010 w e had a cr ew of no mor e than 10 people and 7000 sq f t t o w or k in r ecalled U w e Q uast But man the things w e pr oduc ed with the in cr edible people w or k ing f or us w er e amazing st eelw or k f or c ommer cial buildings univ ersit y buildings schools and hospitals One pr ojec t tha t stands out f or U w e Q uast t ook plac e in 2006 far fr om his T hunder Ba y shop I had a local ar chit ec t who had mo v ed t o Bar bados he calls me hey y ou in t er est ed in a job on Bar ba dos Q uast r et ells the st or y B eing in the st eel manufac tur ing business has alw a y s had its challenges I said wh y not wha t s in v olv ed Q uast had t o pr o vide a set of dr a w ings of the st eel par ts he w ould supply T he r eal challenge is tha t he must supply stainless st eel I v e done a bit of stainless nothing L ak ehead I r on w or ks H ea v y metal fabric a t ors getting the job done Page 64