MBE Spotlights

EAGLE STEEL PRODUCTS

Across the river from Louisville, Eagle Steel Products became the first of several steel processing facilities to locate in the Clark Maritime Centre when it relocated there in 1988 from Louisville’s West End. Indeed, for the past 20 years, Eagle Steel has been growing stronger and stronger.

The company specializes in steel processing, warehousing, stevedoring and distribution. Major customers include General Electric, Johnson Controls, Inc., Arvin, Delphi, and General Motors. The company takes full advantage of the mighty Ohio River, utilizing the less expensive Barge method of transport over more expensive rail or trucking. Giant cranes can unload a barge full of steel in about eight hours.

The company began in 1982, in a 15,000 square foot garage in Louisville’s West End. Later this year, they will open an additional 100,000 square foot expansion of the existing 100,000+ square foot facility in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Additionally, the company has a facility on Collins Lane near the Ford Motor Company’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. That facility handles rolled steel before it goes to Ford’s stamping plant. The eight million dollar expansion of the Jeffersonville facility will include a new slitter that will double their capacity for handling / processing steel. The slitter is a machine that can cut steel coils to specified widths.

On a recent visit to the Jeffersonville plant, President Chuck Moore gave a very insightful tour to KMSDC staff, who were amazed at the capacity of the facility. Steel comes into Eagle in huge rolls via barges. Once the steel is unloaded, it is processed, cut to lengths desired by the customers, wrapped and delivered to customers via rail or truck. For some customers, the steel is simply unloaded from the barge and loaded onto rail cars or trucks for delivery.

The leadership team at Eagle consists of Shirley Ohta, Chuck Moore, and Hank Taylor, Executive Vice President. Shirley, a retired colonel in the US Army, also sits on the Certification Committee for KMSDC.

The firm employs 100 people at the two facilities, forty percent of whom are minorities. They expect to increase employment once the expansion is complete. A challenge faced by the leadership team is the development and retention of employees. Under the leadership of Ohta, Moore and Taylor, many employees have been able to move ahead in the facility, progressing into more challenging roles within the organization. “It’s tough to find people who know this industry,” Moore says. “We prefer to develop the talent within, rather than recruit from the outside.”

The company is ISO 9000 and QS 9000 certified – a quality standard required by their major automotive customers. Shirley Ohta, a founder and company CEO says they will do whatever it takes to meet their customer’s requirements for quality and precision. This philosophy, along with the new state of the art facility makes them truly the “Strongest Bird in the Field.”

For more information on Eagle Steel, contact them at 5150 Loop Road, Jeffersonville, IN 47130, Phone: 812-282-4770 or email: [email protected].