Shapiro recycling hits $40 million

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|ret|The average person on the street may not know much about Shapiro Sales Company, but Springfield's largest manufacturers do.

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|ret|The company which opened a new, $2.5 million facility in September at 2330 W. Catalpa regularly handles the industrial scrap metal produced by such companies as Tracker Marine, Paul Mueller Com-pany, Loren Cook Company, Aaron's Automotive Products, Positronic Industries and all the SRC companies.

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|ret|And while Shapiro Sales' Springfield facility is new, the St. Louis-based company is no stranger to the Ozarks.

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|ret||quot|Actually, we've been doing business in the area for 25 years,|quot| said Bruce Shapiro, president and owner of the company started by his father Melvin more than 70 years ago.

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|ret|The company recently maximized its local rail shipping capabilities with the April 10 delivery of a new, $250,000 Liebher crane, Shapiro said. The crane will facilitate the loading and outbound delivery of processed metals in open top rail cars capable of holding 200,000 pounds of metal.

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|ret|Heavy metal

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|ret|Shapiro Sales buys ferrous metals such as scrap iron and steel and nonferrous metals such copper, brass and aluminum, Shapiro said. The metals are baled, cut and shipped to foundries throughout the Midwest and worldwide for reuse in new products.

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|ret|The company generated nearly $40 million in 2001 revenues, Shapiro said, and it has achieved ISO 9000 certification.

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|ret|Shapiro Sales' operations are spread between four locations, Shapiro said. The oldest is its 100,000-square-foot warehouse in St. Louis. A 25,000-square-foot location was added in El Paso, Texas, in 1995 and the firm has 25 acres in Nashville, Tenn., where it has processed ferrous metals since 2000.

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|ret|Company-wide it employs around 70 people, he added, 10 of them in Springfield. One of those is plant manager Steve Spencer, a 17-year veteran in the scrap metals industry and a former employee of Commercial Metals Company in Springfield.

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|ret|A two-year employee with Shapiro, he said the company's volume |quot|warranted opening a new plant here (rather) than truck it all the way to St. Louis.|quot|

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|ret|Shapiro noted that the decision to build a processing facility here was just good business. |quot|We figured the amount of freight that we would be saving by (not) trucking it back to St. Louis would cover the cost of our mortgage,|quot| he said.

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|ret|Springfield facilities

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|ret|The company's 37,000-square-foot warehouse and office complex is located on 17 acres. Prior to opening its Catalpa Street location Sept. 28, the company processed metals at a small structure at 700 W. Wall Street in Springfield for a year. That facility's size and location, however, made it |quot|difficult to operate out of,|quot| said Stacy Yedlin, vice president of marketing for Shapiro Sales.

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|ret|The new facility was designed by the architectural firm of Butler Rosenbury |amp| Partners and Wirt Construction Company served as general contractor, Yedlin said.

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|ret|The warehouse is of heavy concrete construction. |quot|The sides of the building were actually poured in concrete off site and then brought here in sections|quot| by Prestressed Casting Company, Yedlin said.

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|ret|The availability of rail service was a primary consideration in choosing a site to build, Yedlin said, and the company conducted an extensive search with the help of Jeff Childs with Rankin Company.

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|ret|A 500-foot rail spur was added, built by G.W. Jackson in Carthage at a cost of about $200,000, Shapiro said.

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|ret|Before Shapiro began using rail transport, baled metals went out in trucks with capacities of only 40,000 pounds. The company owns about 20 trucks and has nearly 300 trailers in its inventory, Shapiro said.

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|ret|Shapiro said he anticipates expanding into additional locations outside Missouri in the future.[[In-content Ad]]