CHAMPAIGN, IL (Chambana Today) — When people think about our Shop, office manager Heather Tatro hopes they think of one thing first: “That we can fix anything, and we do quality work. We really like to hear that from our customers; we get that feedback a lot, and we want to keep it up.”
That philosophy has become the foundation of 8th Street Welding and Hydraulics, a family-run business that was rebranded after formerly operating as Davis Welding and Manufacturing. The shop specializes in hydraulic cylinder repair, welding, machining, and custom fabrication for agricultural, construction, and industrial customers.
Heather Tatro said the rebrand was about signaling a fresh start after the business changed ownership in 2024.
“It was still Davis when the previous owner bought it because that was the name everybody knew” Tatro said. “But it hadn’t been running at full capacity, and we just kind of wanted to update, change things and make sure people knew we were doing something new.”
She said the company also wanted to separate itself from some past customer frustrations tied to previous management. “We kind of wanted to distance ourselves from that a little too,” she said. “We’re not the same old thing.”
The company is now led by a close-knit team that includes Andy Tatro, his wife, Heather, their son Will, plus longtime friend and business partner Jacob Leveque. “Andy and Jake have been friends since they were in kindergarten,” Heather Tatro said. “Jake was even in our wedding, going into business together just made sense!”
Leveque said their focus is not only on technical work, but on rebuilding trust and emphasizing customer service. “The art of customer service disappeared a long time ago,” Leveque said. “COVID exacerbated it to another level. We’ve all just accepted it as the norm, and that’s something that always drove me crazy.”
The owners said one of their biggest goals is quick turnaround times.
“If we can turn stuff around in two days, then that helps drive our customer service,” Leveque said. “It all boils down to customer service, which means you gotta do the stuff right, you gotta do it fast, and you gotta smile at them.”
Andy Tatro said the shop has a strict policy when it comes to billing customers. “If we don’t fix it, we don’t charge,” he said. “We don’t do a look-at fee or anything like that.”
That approach, he said, helps separate the business from competitors. “A lot of shops, you bring something in and even if they don’t fix it, you still get a bill,” Andy Tatro said. “That’s not how we do things.”
The company works on a wide variety of equipment, from agricultural machinery to heavy construction equipment, roadwork equipment and industrial components. Heather Tatro said. “We do a lot of emergency repairs for people, broken down farm, construction and factory equipment needing repaired now.”
Leveque said no two days are exactly alike. “You always have the one-off niche kind of repairs,” he said. “Some oddball thing they bring in. We need to fix a spindle, we need to put keyways in a shaft, we need to thread some oddball cylinder or bolt. It’s all over the place. It’s full spectrum, and it’s never boring.”
That constant variety means the team often has to solve problems they’ve never seen before. “Oh, every day,” Leveque said with a laugh. “A lot of times the strategy is, ‘Set it off to the side. Give us a day to think about it.’ Sometimes it takes two days, sometimes four. You work through all the things in your head — how can I fix this and what’s the best way to do it?”
The company says safety is another core value, especially given the size and weight of the equipment they handle. “We don’t rush into things,” Andy Tatro said. “We take a step back, look at it, assess it and figure out how we’re going to attack the project.”
Leveque agreed, saying the shop intentionally avoids operating like a mass-production facility. “We’re not running a production line,” he said. “We’re not trying to produce 1000 widgets per shift. That’s not what we do.”
The owners also say they are committed to investing heavily in apprenticeships and training younger workers as skilled trades become more important nationwide.
Leveque said he believes attitudes toward trade work are beginning to shift. “For years, the people in these jobs just kept getting older and older and older, and there was nobody younger coming in,” he said. “Now people are starting to realize the trades matter again.”
Rather than searching only for experienced workers, the company prioritizes people willing to learn. “We want people who are teachable.” Leveque said, “We want to teach those intangibles — strong work skills, positive attitude, and humbleness.”
Heather Tatro said the company’s apprenticeship efforts are already underway within the company:
Their son, Will Tatro (2nd Generation Machinist), is taking a manual machining apprenticeship through Heartland Community College after leaving a corporate position at Rivian. “He was tired of the corporate nonsense,” Heather Tatro said. “When my husband said he was going to buy this business, our son said, ‘I want to come work with you, Dad.’ He’s picked it up so quickly.”
Zander Burke (Cylinder Tech & Welder) who also works with the company, is in his 2nd year of an HCC Apprenticeship while continuing his training.
The owners say long-term growth depends on building a business that can eventually operate without relying entirely on one or two people. “If it’s just us running it, it’s not scalable,” Leveque said. “The business needs to be able to run itself. It can’t be dependent on one or two people.”
Looking ahead, the company hopes to continue expanding further into the heavy-equipment market. “That’s the stuff we want,” Andy Tatro said while pointing to a massive hydraulic cylinder recently delivered to the shop.
Leveque said the heavy-equipment sector includes a broad range of industries. “Roadworks, civil works, junkyards, asphalt companies, construction companies — it’s a huge gamut,” he said.
Despite the demanding work, the owners said they try to maintain a lighthearted culture inside the shop and on social media. “With our social media, we try to show people we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” Heather Tatro said. “People get to see everybody’s personalities.”
Leveque said the company’s overall philosophy remains simple. “Customer service is going to drive everything else,” he said. “Humility, doing things right, making things right if you mess up — that’s what matters.”