Unhurt by economy, G&G Steel to expand

RUSSELLVILLE - G&G Steel, a home-grown steel manufacturer and fabricator, is expanding its operations in Russellville and Iuka, Miss., despite a flagging economy.

The operation, which started during recession-plagued 1975, is building two more work bays that will, in the first couple of years, add 15 to 25 workers to the 240 employees. The additional workers will include fitters, welders, painters and machine operators, according to Bret Gist, vice president of G&G Steel.

In 2007, the steel maker leased out its fabricator facility in Cordova that is adjacent to the Black Warrior River. In October, it opened a facility in Iuka adjacent to the Tennessee River.

"We needed water access and a larger fabricator to continue the volume we've been doing since we acquired Warrior," Gist said.

The company used to have mainly private contracts, but several multi-year contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with the power and mining industries, gave the plant a chance to expand, Gist said.

"We've been fortunate to stay busy during these, what you would call, bad times," Gist said.

The facility will be exempt from property tax for 10 years and will have a one-time sales tax exemption for construction materials, said Mitch Mays, executive director of the Franklin County Industrial Development Authority, which worked with G&G to apply for state, county and city incentives.

Mays stressed that the sales tax exemption did not include taxes for education.

"Education taxes cannot be abated and will be paid," Mays said.

"They're a growing company," he added.

"They are going to have to add new skilled employment" that usually includes higher paid jobs. "G&G is a strong company and can expand even as the economy suffers."

Some projects are driven by stimulus funds, but Gist stressed, "We made this decision (to expand) before the stimulus package ever hit."

The company specializes in fabricating larger-than-life industrial structures that also are capable of motion. The company operates under an umbrella group, GSI, that includes Franklin Manufacturing Company Inc.

The company was involved in the construction of the Third Avenue Bridge in New York City, a $119 million bridge that spans 2,800 feet and serves more than 72,000 vehicles per day.

The bridge rotates to allow water traffic through, Gist said.

Within the manufacturing facility, one worker used a rotating planer to cut into a ship rotor the size of a fishing boat. One bay had machines the size of combines that work on tons of steel.

"A 10-ton job is a small job for us," Gist said while walking through the 300,000-square-foot facility.

When asked about the cost of the expansion, Gist declined to give a dollar figure.

"We never give out dollar amounts," he explained.

The factory was working on a series of stop locks - 115 foot long biscotti-shaped metal works that close off river locks so they can be drained and repaired.

The stop locks, 52.5 tons each, will ship to Detroit after they are finished in Iuka.

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@TimesDaily.com.