ANDERSON — The company that acquired S&S Steel Services in a U.S. bankruptcy court sale last month is moving its building and operations from Jeffersonville to Anderson.
That move was announced this week by Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mill Steel Co. as part of a plan to expand its distribution capabilities.
"Clearly, this is a great opportunity for us and the city of Anderson," said Eric Lambert, senior vice president, chief financial officer, and chief operating office of the company.
He said the firm hopes to clean up the 225,000-square-foot facility on East 29th Street, and have the necessary equipment installed to begin new operations here by late April.
Lambert said the move will help retain the company's local skilled workforce and set the stage for additional jobs in the future.
The flat-rolled carbon steel distributor previously announced that it would consolidate its steel framing and accessory operations from Louisville to its Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville location.
That operation serves Mill Steel's automotive appliance, transportation, construction and tubing customers.
Mill Steel Chief Executive Officer David Samrick said the efficiencies created by the moves are a "game changer" for all of the company's business segments.
The company also has operations in Grand Rapids and Melvindale, Mich., and Birmingham, Ala.
S&S Steel faced imminent shutdown until a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge for the Southern District of Indiana approved the sale last month.
"This transaction is expected to save a significant number of jobs in the Anderson area, preserve the tax base for the community, and preserve a viable customer for the current vendors to S&S Steel," according to documents S&S filed with the court supporting the sale.
Attorneys representing unsecured creditors opposed the sale, claiming the only beneficiaries would be Wells Fargo bank, the company's largest secured creditor, and S&S Steel's founder and president, Barry Sharp. He was the company's majority stockholder.
S&S filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition last August citing $13 million in debts against $7.5 million in assets.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy is designed to help struggling company's restructure their finances and maximize the return to their creditors and owners while continuing to remain in business.
In addition to $9 million owed to the bank, the company owed its 20 largest creditors more than $1.78 million, and lesser sums to its remaining creditors.
Founded in 1986, S&S provided specialty steel products to metal stamping and roll forming industries.
The company moved to the former Delco Remy Plant 15 on East 29th Street in 1994.
In June 2010, S&S Steel bought the former Delco Remy Plant 20, a 333,000-square-foot building and property north of 38th Street and east of Scatterfield Road.
That plant was not part of the deal with Mill Steel, Lambert said, and is still part of bankruptcy proceedings.
That property is currently listed for sale on Anderson's Department of Economic Development web page at an asking price of $3.7 million.