Company That Started in Grand Rapids Basement Still Growing Despite
Recession
Diverse Customer Base and Strong People-First Culture Key to Steel
Company's Success
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Sept. 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mill Steel Company, a proud Michigan-based steel distributor, is marking its 50th year of business with an expanding customer base and new business at home and across North America.
Mill Steel was started by Harry H. Samrick in 1959 with little more than a phone and a desk in his basement during the longest steelworkers' strike the industry had seen. Today, Mill Steel is one of the largest flat-rolled steel distributors in the Midwest, with locations in the U.S. and Canada, and more than $250 million in annual sales.
"My father started the company with an entrepreneur's appreciation for calculated risk and unwavering respect for his customers and employees," said Mill Steel President and Chairman David S. Samrick. "Those characteristics have been fundamental to our success, and continue to be as we discover new opportunities in Michigan and beyond."
The company on Saturday, September 12, celebrated its anniversary with a tribute event at its Grand Rapids headquarters that drew more than 200 employees and their families. The company's success has been driven by its long-term status as a preferred supplier of high-quality steel to automakers and their suppliers across North America, as well as a growing list of customers in the appliance, agricultural equipment, homebuilding and office furniture industries.
"I am as optimistic as I could possibly be," said David Samrick about the company's future. "We are hiring and preparing for growth on the near horizon.
"Our business model relies on ideas being fed and nurtured from all areas of the company," he said. "That model is what has allowed us to see new opportunity where others may not. We are right now working on projects that we think will add new growth to our company, and to our ability to service new customers in exciting ways."
Mill Steel, through its unique homegrown "university," trains all of its employees on the big picture view of its operations to avoid errors and to cross-train people in multiple tasks. Ideas are invited in regular meetings from the ground up to keep potential areas of improvement and growth firmly on the company's radar, including interns hired each semester from Grand Valley State University.
"Mill Steel has a deep understanding of how to blend classroom knowledge with real business experience in their internship program," said Troy Farley, associate director career services for GVSU. "Students are often amazed that, within the internship experience at Mill Steel, they will use their critical thinking skills to make independent business decisions that impact Mill Steel's bottom line."
The consistent practice has gotten Mill Steel noticed. The company in 2008 was awarded the prestigious national Alfred P. Sloan Award for business excellence in workplace flexibility by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Twiga Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to create family-consciousness in the workplace.
The company also ranked in the top 10 of "West Michigan's 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work for," by the Michigan Business and Professional Association for six years, garnering the top "Best of the Best" spot for 2005, 2007 and 2008. Mill Steel was honored as GVSU's Office of Career Services Internship Employer of the Year in 2008, and the company's internship program was written about in June 2007 by the Wall Street Journal.
"I have complete faith in my team and our business model," said David Samrick. "As long as there is steel, we'll adapt and change to do whatever it takes to be as successful during the next half-century as we have been in the first."
About Mill Steel Co.: Mill Steel Co., based in Grand Rapids, Mich., celebrates its 50th year in business in 2009, and remains dedicated to its history of innovation and people-first culture that has made it one of the largest, best-in-class flat rolled steel products distributors in the Midwest. Comprised of twelve production lines and locations in Grand Rapids and Melvindale (Detroit), Mich., Windsor, Ont., and a sales office in Louisville, Ky., Mill Steel serves customers in the automotive, appliance, office furniture, homebuilding and agricultural equipment industries, among others, across North America.
Mill Steel has been ranked as one of the best places to work in Michigan, and received the prestigious national Alfred P. Sloan Award for business excellence in workplace flexibility by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Twiga Foundation in 2008. The company continues to practice its history of excellence as it grows to meet the needs of an expanding customer base.
For more information about Mill Steel, visit www.millsteel.com.