Growth Drives ISC to Buy Building It Leases
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Rapid growth is driving International Steel & Counterweights’ purchase of the building it is in from its landlord, says its general manager, Paul Vesey.
International Steel & Counterweights is a subsidiary of AMG Resources Corp., Pittsburgh, which also owns Midwest Steel & Alloy here. ISC is in the process of acquiring the North West Ave. building where its operations are housed from GLG Industries, a division of Ken Greco Co.
Last night City Council approved the sale of adjacent pieces of property to GLG, a transfer required before International Steel’s purchase of the 300,000-square-foot building. The agreement will be considered by the city Board of Control this morning.
“We came in originally in 2010 and were just going to use 60,000 square feet. We began growing and growing and pushing the landlord out,” Vesey said. “We got big enough we needed to have the facility to ourselves.”
Sales were $4 million by the end of the company’s first year and had grown to $11 million by the end of 2011. Last year sales reached $20 million, he reported. Employment has grown from 10 that first year to 86 now. “We’re very fortunate. It’s a niche business,” he said.
Vesey could not point to any particular industry or customer that was driving the company’s growth, but noted it has in excess of 100 customers. “We’re going out and getting new customers,” he said. “It’s still a very depressed market but we’re fortunate enough to get enough customers to thrive.”
International Steel is operating at about 70% of its capacity in its current space, Vesey said. As the sale of the building has been negotiated over the past year, GLG has allowed the company to use additional space to accommodate its growth. Employment should reach 100 in the next two years, he said.
Greco will absorb GLG, a steel processor, with no job losses, reported Sarah Brugler, chief financial officer at Greco.
BACKGROUND:
Ken Greco Co. to Sell Building to Its Tenant