Everyone’s happy with Granite City Steel firing back up. But who gets the credit?
Robert McKinney was without a job for two years after he was laid off from Granite City Steel.
Without work, the Granite City resident couldn't go out for dinner and spend money in town.
“A lot of people just like me, we had to change, we don’t go out to eat a lot," McKinney said. "You have to watch what you do.”
But in January, McKinney was able to get back to work at the steel mill when a job opened up in the cold mill.
He said with a laugh that the bill collectors are happy.
“I started paying a little extra, started getting past the red line,” McKinney said.
Many workers like McKinney have now been able to get back to work. The plant began the process of bringing back 500 workers in March as U.S. Steel announced it was firing up a furnace to start producing steel again. Then earlier this week, U.S. Steel announced it was bringing back an additional 300 jobs by October in order to get the Granite City steel plant's second furnace fired up.
Those jobs coming back also help other businesses nearby, as people have money to spend.
McKinney is now able to go out for dinner and make a trip to Branson, Missouri, with his wife.
“There’s people starting to go out to eat and spending a little more," McKinney said.
The idling of the plant in December 2015 was followed by other smaller businesses closing, said Rosemarie Brown, the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce of Southwestern Madison County, which covers Granite City, Madison, Venice, Pontoon Beach and Mitchell.
Within a year of U.S. Steel announcing the idling plans, 26 businesses, such as dry cleaners, small insurance companies and small restaurants in the area, had closed.
“They were all members of the chamber, they all closed,” Brown said. “Was it all due to that, I can’t say that. There was a cloud of depression in this community. There’s a lot of other things in this community, we’ve got a number of other great businesses … But we are a steel (community); it just depressed everyone.”
Now, businesses around the plant are starting to see a bounce, Brown said.
One restaurant, Lascelles, had a good business during the idling, but it’s standing-room-only now that the plant is up and moving, Brown said.
“I could see a huge difference with lunch and dinner and people moving around," Brown said. "There’s a new confidence level in this community.”
Jon Roderick, owner of Jerry’s Cafeteria, bought the restaurant last year from his father, Jerry Roderick.
In the last seven or eight years the business has been tight, and shaky, as the steel mill went through its struggles.
“Everything is tied locally here to that place," Roderick said. "There’s no trucks rolling in now, no steel being made, no trains rolling in and out, the auxiliary plants … their production goes down. Production goes down, employees go down. Less employees, less customers. The ripple effect."
The last two years have been stable, he said.
“It was a matter of survival instead of thriving, which we're doing right now. The business is really good right now,” Roderick said.
Jerry's Cafeteria went from 300 customers a day to more than 400 customers.
Roderick said revenue is up 10 percent on the year from last year and allows him to reinvest in his business by purchasing new kitchen equipment, tables and ovens. He even plans to replace the ceiling in the building, and buy a new cargo van for catering gigs.
“We haven’t been able to do some of these things,” Roderick said. “I’m able to spend money my dad couldn’t spend over the last few years to bring this place back up to where it needs to be, or where it could be.”
James Amos, economic development director for Granite City, said more people coming into town means they’re probably also buying lunch, and people have more money to go to stores after work.
“They’re going to be going to Jerry’s. They’re going to be going to Daylight Donuts across the street, they’re going to be going to Kool Beanz Café, going to be going to our shops on the Nameoki strip during their lunch hour," Amos said.
Just having the steel mill operating helps spur other investment, Amos said.
“When there is a downturn in the heavy-metals manufacturing, people know that. It does make it harder for somebody like me to encourage folks about investing dollars in our community, whether that’s just perception or whether there are direct economic reasons for it," Amos said. "And so the reverse is true right now, and we’re glad to see it.”
That psyche can even be seen by a local entrepreneur who planned to open her third business even before knowing the steel mill would fire up its furnaces.
Granite City resident Brenda Whitaker, a former steel worker, is opening a new restaurant along Neidgringhaus Avenue called the Downtown Diner, which will be open 24 hours a day. It will be about four blocks away. She started talking about the new restaurant five years ago, negotiating on the location for about a year and a half, and she had been renovating the location for about six months.
“It’s kind of serendipitous that (the mill) is reopening,” Whitaker said.
She also owns the Garden Gate Tea Room and owns Novel Idea Bookstore and More.
She said when the steel mill was idled, people felt like the whole community had shut down.
“I think it’s a mindset that everyone thinks when that mill is shuttered, that the whole town is closed," Whitaker said. "It’s great that everyone is coming back to work, but it just helps with the psyche. People don’t see it as a dying community, they see it as a vibrant community.”
Madison-based Custom Steel, which produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized steel, purchased the former Feralloy facility in Granite City in March in order to install a major piece of equipment for its business later this year.
Granite City Works reopening could potentially help Custom Steel save money, even though pricing discussions have not taken place, because the two businesses are near each other.
The shipping costs from the Granite City mill to Custom Steel would be substantially less than if Custom Steel bought from steel mills that are farther away, said Kevin Farrell, who is a consultant and a member of the board of directors of Custom Steel.
“Shipping is a major component in our cost structure,” Farrell said.
“We’re a long-term customer of Granite City Works, so the reopening of the mill is a happy event for us, and our employees, and community,” Farrell added. “It undoubtedly will help us as we move forward and supply our customers.”
Of course, people want to take credit for the steel mill firing back up.
President Donald Trump announced he would be placing tariffs on foreign steel in March. The tariffs were aimed mainly at China, which had been accused of dumping steel into the U.S. market at lower costs. Less than a week later the tariff announcement, U.S. Steel announced it was bringing back 500 jobs to Granite City.
Last week, Trump announced he would impose those tariffs for Canada, the European Union and Mexico. That was followed this week by the announcement of 300 more jobs at Granite City to fire up a second furnace.
George Talley, 33, of Granite City, who works as a utility technician for the cold strip, said it’s great news that the jobs came back, but he didn’t know how much the tariffs played a role in bringing the jobs back.
He added he's not a Trump supporter.
“I didn’t like him before he ran for president; I don’t like him now," Talley said. "He never supported union jobs, and I’m a union worker.”
Other workers at the plant give Trump a lot of credit.
Sherry Burcham, 55, of Troy, was lucky enough to stay on at the plant during the two-year idling.
She said she thinks the tariffs played a huge role in bringing back the steelworker jobs.
“I don’t know how it’s going to work out for all of the rest of the world, I’m not that politically smart, I just know that for us, it has been great," Burcham said.
If prices for other products go up, “I would feel bad for others, but for us it has been great," Burcham said.
Outside the plant and across the street from the “we are hiring" sign, Burcham said the parking lot has been full, and she would give a lot of credit to Trump.
She says she’s a middle-of-the-road voter, and voted for Trump. In the past she has voted mostly Democratic, including for President Barack Obama in 2008.
“I wanted something different,” Burcham said. “He’s not a typical politician. Sometimes I’m sorry, sometimes I’m not. As far as this place goes, it’s been great for us.”
Larry Heath, 59, of Granite City, who is a water treater for the casters, was laid off for six months during the two-year idling. Heath said workers were thrilled to be back to work.
“We started the first cast (Tuesday), there were smiles all around,” Heath said.
Heath says he’s an independent, but said Trump is doing things that are good for the steelworkers.
He has voted for candidates in both major parties, and Trump should get quite a bit of credit, he said, but he acknowledged the efforts of representatives and the union.
He hasn’t decided how he will vote in the midterm elections and whether he'll vote for U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, or Democratic challenger Brendan Kelly in the 12th congressional district.
“So far what Bost is doing, I may vote for him," Heath said. "Our union usually backs the Democrat, and at the same token, I like to reward people who take care of me and my values.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2018 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Everyone’s happy with Granite City Steel firing back up. But who gets the credit?."