Episode 17: Daniel Villa with CenCal Welding LLC
In this episode of the Small Business Voice, host Jeanette Forni and co-host Nicole Castillo sit down with Daniel Villa, 28-year-old owner of CenCal Welding LLC out of Oakdale. Daniel's story is one Jeanette loves to tell — a young man who discovered welding in high school through the Ag Mechanics program, stayed after school and through lunch to practice, and eventually built it into a licensed contracting business by the time he was in his mid-twenties. The conversation covers his journey from summer work building iron gates for a fencing contractor, to repairing heavy agricultural machinery like dairy feed grinders, to earning his ironworker’s union card and ultimately his C60 contractor's license through the state of California. Daniel walks listeners through what sets CenCal apart: a full in-house process that goes from custom 3D-rendered design all the way through fabrication and installation, with automated gate systems, curved pool deck guardrails, and ornate ranch entry gates among his recent projects. The episode also touches on the broader conversation about bringing trade programs back to high schools and the very real demand for skilled welders in the Valley.
