Management
Dick Friesen – President & General Manager
Dick has been in the fabricating and manufacturing atmosphere for most of his working career. The 8 years that he spent at Flexi-Coil working in research and development gave him valuable knowledge in product development as well as manufacturing. Dick spent a good portion of this time working on the Barton disc opener and was involved in most of the development at that time. After leaving Flexi-Coil, he started his own business Pillar Welding and Machine. They designed and built weld fixtures, as well as many different manufacturing support items for several Ag Manufacturers. It was during this time that Dick was approached by Hugh Barton (the inventor of the Barton Disc Opener) about redesigning the disc opener and developing a double shoot system that would work on a single disc. After several years and many different prototypes, the current design of the Disc Hoe Opener was ready for production. Dick leads the design team at Pillar which has designed and produced the Disc Hoe Opener, Pillar toolbars and the most resent the Pillar Heavy Harrow. Dick enjoys spending time with family camping, fishing, hunting as well as other outdoor activities.
John Martens- Partner/Laser operations
John has worked in the farm implement manufacturing sector and metal fab for 31 yrs. Starting just out of school at CNH (Flexi-coil). His last 7 yrs. at CNH was spent working with engineering, designing and developing new products for production. In 2005 John and his partners started a new company Pillar Lasers Inc. By using all the combined experience, Pillar has developed its own line of farm equipment. John now manages the laser cutting division of Pillar and continues to consult on the design of existing and new Pillar products.
Bill Froese- Partner/Purchasing, Financial operations.
Bill is a partner in Pillar Lasers Inc. His background has been in the construction industry starting in 1979 as an employee, then manager and successfully owned and operated the business for approximately 12 years. As part of the management team, Bill brings his business knowledge to Pillar Lasers Inc.
Sales
Mike Friesen- Sales and Marketing consultant
Jody Derocher- Sales Manager
