In an economic time when many companies are feeling the pinch, Pacific Steel & Recycling of Great Falls, Montana is expanding. The 100% employee-owned company recently hosted a grand re-opening party at its branch in Rock Springs, Wyoming to celebrate the completion of its new facilities.
Over the past few years, the Rock Springs location has seen a number of improvements, including the construction of a new steel warehouse and the addition of new branch location offices. The Rock Springs employee-owners worked incredibly hard to see these upgrades come to fruition and celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony, a presentation of the key to the city from a representative of the City of Rock Springs, a barbeque, and an onsite live radio broadcast by a local radio DJ.
The growth that Pacific Steel has experienced further supports a recent study by economist Alex Brill – former advisor to the Simpson-Bowles bipartisan deficit reduction commission and a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute – that found jobs among surveyed S ESOP firms grew by more than 20 percent over the past decade, while jobs in the private sector remained relatively flat. According to the study, the unique strengths of employee ownership drove company gains and jobs in the past decade, while helping insulate S ESOP businesses from the adverse effects of the recent recession.
Pacific Steel & Recycling was founded by Joseph Thiebes, Sr., a German immigrant, in the late 1800s as a one-man hide and fur operation. Since then, the company has expanded to encompass 45 branch locations across 9 states, and shifted its focus to manufacturing steel products and processing consumer and industrial recycle. Pacific Steel has been 100% employee-owned for over 30 years and has over 750 employee-owners company-wide, an asset in which they attribute much of their success.
Congrats to Pacific Steel for completing their new offices at their Rock Springs, Wyoming branch!