Vallourec's Mill Represents New Chapter for Valley
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Jay Williams suggests Sean Stafford pay a return visit to the Mahoning Valley for the purpose of writing a sequel to his book, Why the Garden Club Couldn’t Save Youngstown.
For that follow-up book, the former Youngstown mayor recommended the author speak to anyone present at Wednesday’s dedication of Vallourec Star’s new seamless pipe mill to understand the new generation and mindset of the community. “The last chapter on this community is yet to be written,” he remarked
Williams, executive director of the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers, recently completed a tour as deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House. He was among the dignitaries, workers and guests present for the dedication of the new Vallourec Star mill, nearly three years to the date ground was broken on the project.
That groundbreaking was not just for the plant itself but for “a new way of doing business here in the Mahoning Valley," Williams observed. The community is now recognized across the country for leading a “manufacturing renaissance” that can be traced to the decision Vallourec made to invest here. “Today represents what we can do when we worry less about political boundaries and more about mutual benefit,” he said.
The new $1 billion plant is “a perfect illustration of our company’s global strategy” to be “more premium, more local and more competitive,” said Philippe Crouzet, Vallourec management board chairman and CEO. “By being strategically located in the markets we serve such as the United States, we are uniquely qualified to meet the fast-evolving demands of our customers,” he said.
In 2009 -- “not a great year” for the economy -- management made a strategic decision and the timing “couldn’t have been better,” said James “Skip” Herald, managing director of Vallourec OCTG North America. OCTG stands for oil country tubular goods such as the new seamless mill produces. Vallourec has 2,900 employees in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and the new mill is “central to our success in all of those markets,” he said.
“This mill is on the forefront of the growth of the shale plays and perfectly positioned to take advantage of that,” Herald added.
Unavailable to attend, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, who Joel C. Mastervich, president and chief operating officer of Vallourec Star, praised as a “very good early spokesman for making this investment here in Youngstown,” and Ohio Gov. John Kasich offered congratulatory remarks on video.
Vallourec’s announcement that it would build the new seamless mill here gave the Valley “a huge psychological boost” and “a global seal of approval,” Ryan, D-13 Ohio, said.
Kasich called the event “another great day for Youngstown” and another “shining example of Ohio’s comeback.”
In a news release, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called the dedication “great news for the Mahoning Valley and a testament to the strength of Ohio’s manufacturing base.” Brown said.
“We know our workers can compete against anyone in the world when they are on a level playing field. That’s why we must continue to fight illegal Chinese steel pipe imports so companies like Vallourec Star can stay and grow in Ohio,” Brown said.
Among those attending the ceremony were the mayors of the two cities that collaborated on the project, Youngstown’s Chuck Sammarone, who succeeded Williams nearly two years ago, and Girard’s James Melfi.
Sammarone, who mused that he recalls when the Valley’s steel mills were going “great guns” and when “they died overnight,” said Vallourec’s investment tells “a lot of things,” among them that the area is coming back. “They’re not going to be investing that kind of money and lose,” he remarked.
“It’s big for the area. It’s big for Girard and Youngstown,” he continued. “It shows that when you work together you can make things happen.”
“This is a time when great confidence starts to develop,” Melfi remarked. Unlike the “negativity” driven by job losses and closures during his generation, “all of a sudden this project has catapulted us toward others,” he said.
Melfi also noted the Route 422 corridor will see improvements resulting from the project. “There are better things to come. We are aware of two projects that are going to happen that are going to change the look of 422,” he said.
Walter Good, business development director for Team NEO/JobsOhio, worked with Vallourec and both cities to help bring the project about while serving as vice president for economic development at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. “It really is satisfying to see what’s happened today, he said.
The mill also reinforces Ohio’s growing position in advanced manufacturing as well as the energy sector. While it is often thought of as a steel pipe production facility, Good said, the mill is important to oil and natural gas exploration across the United States. “This isn’t just serving the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. It’s serving a very wide market area, and that’s important to the Ohio economy,” he added.
The new mill also represents employment for 350 workers there, some of whom were out of work for extended periods of time prior to their hiring.
Alex Kassay drives 57 miles to work every morning from his home in New Cumberland, W.Va. He had been out of work for two years prior to being hired, and has been employed at the mill for two years and three months.
Kassay, whose previous experience includes working in a flat-rolled steel mill, now is a piercer pulpit operator and furnace operator. “I had never made pipe before so I’ve learned a lot about the pipe-making process, working closely with all of our engineers and all of our team members,” he said. “I’ve learned some new things that are helping me to make better and better product every day.”
Lindsay Tipton of Boardman, a former bank teller, is coming up on two years at Vallourec in September. She now is a warehouse supervisor. “It’s been a great opportunity,’ she remarked.
Production specialist Jennifer Jones of Columbiana, who has a background in industrial engineering and in the automobile industry, is pleased to have the opportunity to be involved with the project from the ground up. “It’s been fabulous,” she said. “It’s been a world of experience that I’ll never get again.”
MORE:
Advanced Manufacturing Shines at Vallourec Star
Vallourec Execs Hail 'Great Day' for New Youngstown Mill
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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