A family business since 1969

How it started

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In 1949, the Holak family immigrated to the United States. They had lost everything worldly, including their freedom in Nazi work camps during World War II. They did not, however, lose their spirit and the drive to succeed in this new land of freedom and opportunity. They were sponsored by a church in Independence, Louisiana, and went to work as sharecroppers on a family farm there.

The entire Holak family worked at sharecropping, and some of the children eventually left the farm, spreading out across the country to educate and train themselves. Metchislav trained in industry and manufacturing, Walerij graduated from college in education, and Stanislav graduated as an electronic engineer, working in advanced electronics for the military.

Their dedication and work ethic were deeply ingrained, so when they reunited in Tangipahoa Parish and started Gulf South Machine, Inc. in 1969, they were prepared for the challenges ahead.

Rebuilding machines at night

Mike (Metchislav) and Larry (Walerij) first built GSM as a machine tool rebuilder while working other full-time jobs. Working at night, they used the profits from selling rebuilt machines to manufacture products on their own unsold machines. They made products for customers, then sold those fully tooled machines to the customers so they could make the same parts for themselves. The business grew.

The first CNC machine in Louisiana

In 1974 they bought a new, cutting-edge computerized manufacturing center from Lodge & Shipley in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is believed to be the first computer-controlled machine tool sold in the state of Louisiana. Larry taught himself to program and run the machine, and Mike learned to tool it. For the highly technical electronic maintenance they enlisted their brother Stanislav (Stan), who trained at General Electric and Lodge & Shipley and soon joined the business. The new equipment gave Gulf South Machine a big advantage over other machine shops: the quality was better, production was many times faster, and the company prospered.

Today

GSM operates over 50 computer-controlled machine tools in two states, with state-of-the-art equipment combined with old-fashioned hard work, honesty and work ethic.

After many years of customers moving manufacturing offshore to China, we took on the challenge and became an ISO-certified company, to compete for opportunities in all world markets. Our quality management system is certified to the ISO 9001:2015 standard, and that work made GSM the recipient of the 2017 Small Manufacturer’s Award from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana (MEPOL).

GSM has a diverse, adaptable workforce: decades of experienced, talented and dedicated men and women.