Chris Wilson news blog

AMORY — A manufacturer that produces rebar from recycled steel plans to locate in Amory’s Waterway Industrial Park. It will be the biggest industrial investment ever for North Monroe County.
EcoSteel Recycling, LLC has applied for environmental permits and announced plans to construct a steel recycling facility on about 80 acres of city-owned land on the waterway, south of the Domtar (formerly Weyerhaeuser) wood-chipping facility.  EcoSteel Recycling is what the industry refers to as a “green field project” as it is a newly created company, not affiliated with other existing companies, constructed at a previously undeveloped site. Eco Steel’s total investment in Amory is expected to be in excess of $150 million.
According to EcoSteel Recycling President and CEO Louis Colatriano, the steel mill will consume about 330,000 tons of scrap steel a year, converting it into 300,000 tons of rebar.
Rebar is a steel reinforcing product used in most major concrete construction projects, especially in bridge and highway construction. Company officials said the U.S. imports billions of tons of foreign-manufactured rebar annually, but U.S. law prohibits use of foreign-made rebar on federal highways and bridges. Because of the Buy America regulation, EcoSteel Recycling sees a tremendous opportunity to market its rebar.
The plant is expected to be about a 100,000-square-foot facility capable of producing long steel rebar product.
Colatriano said the process the company will use is “the epitome of recycling.”  They will recycle scrap steel such as scrap cars, refrigerators and other appliances. The company uses electrical energy to melt the scrap metal. Once it is in a liquid state,  a continuous casting process produces steel billets. It is then transported into a rolling mill to be reduced and eventually the rebar is cut to length and shipped out to customers.
Incoming scrap steel will come to the plant by rail, barge  and truck. The outbound finished rebar product will move primarily by truck  and rail.
“Steel is the most recycled material on earth and we are glad to be doing our part in this recycling effort,” he said.
EcoSteel Recycling’s target market will be the Katrina rebuilding effort and other construction, especially highway and bridges, within a 350 mile radius of Amory.

Jobs Created
The facility is expected to create at least 100 direct full-time jobs with a pay scale that is competitive within the industry plus a competitive benefit package, including a 401(k) program.
There will also be a great number of indirect jobs created in the area around the plant in trucking, cleaning trucks,gas stations, supplying materials and fabricating. Colatriano  estimated about 75 indirect jobs, with pay averaging from $35,000 to $40,000 annually. He said steel mills traditionally create numerous jobs besides those directly within the mill.
The jobs will not be at capacity levels until the mill is in full production within about three years after groundbreaking. Construction on the plant is expected to begin by year end and will take about 18 months to complete. At the peak of construction, Boozer said there will be 700 to 800 construction workers on site. Colatriano said it will then take about 18 months to “ramp up” the facility to full  production.
Most employees are expected to be hired locally, some skilled workers will be sought, while others will be trained through a training program that is part of the company’s business plan. The company will be working through the local community colleges and Three Rivers Planning and Development and job fairs to hire and train its work force. Hiring will occur simultaneously with construction on the mill.

Site selection
The company chose Amory for its steel mill for several reasons. “We’ve been delighted with Mississippi,” Colatriano said.
There was a lot of momentum for this type of industry in Mississippi following the Mississippi Development Authority’s (MDA’s) recruitment of other major industries to the state.
The MDA, ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission), and the low cost of TVA power helped land this company in Amory. Also among factors for its selection of the site was cooperation from Amory city officials and the Monroe County supervisors who, Colatriano said, “embraced the project.”
“It’s really a true partnership,” he said, of local, state and federal entities.

Local commitment
The city’s commitment to the project is to provide necessary infrastructure on the site. A heavy-duty road is already in place at the industrial park, that was funded through grants over the past several years beginning in 2001. The city has secured a Multi-Modal MDOT grant to pay for extension of the city’s rail spur to the steel mill site.
The city expects to issue a bond for water, sewer and electrical infrastructure at the site. Before issuing any type of bond, a public hearing would be held.
According to Mayor Howard Boozer, the city and county are participating in the project as a team and a plan is in the works to put no additional tax burden on the public even when issuance of bonds becomes necessary. Boozer said they are currently pursuing all grants possible to keep local expense for any improvements to the industrial park minimal. The plant site is raw land that has never before been developed.
“This will build the tax base, not burden local taxpayers,” Boozer said. “This project will have the largest favorable impact ever on the tax base of the city of Amory and North Monroe County.”
Mayor Boozer said other companies will take note of a project the size of EcoSteel Recycling locating here. The infrastructure being developed at the industrial park for the steel mill will lay the foundation for other economic development projects there in the future.
The company doesn’t foresee any significant negative environmental impact on the Amory area. Colatriano said there will not be excessive noise from the manufacturing process and that they will
conform to environmental standards using the BACT (Best Available Control Technology) standards for emissions.
A formal groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the industrial site in the coming months.