Alton Steel is a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

manufacturer, based in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend (Illinois), Riv ...

, United States. The company is a reincarnation of the Laclede Steel Company, which halted operations of its mill in 1998. The company entered

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in 2001, but emerged in 2003 with the new name and new owners. The reborn company employs over 260 hourly and 100 salaried workers in the area.

History

Laclede Steel was incorporated in 1911 by Thomas Russell Akin who was succeeded by William Markham Akin who in turn was succeeded by Paul B. Akin (Paul's son Congressman and 2012 Republican Senate nominee Todd Akin was a manager of the company but did not become chairman). It owned two electric-arc furnaces, and owned mills in

, Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania,

Vandalia, Illinois Vandalia is a city in and the county seat of Fayette County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 Census, the population was 7,458. The city is on the Kaskaskia River and in the early 19th century, Vandalia became the western terminus of the N ...

and Benwood, West Virginia. Its products included strip, hot rolled bars, wire, pipe, structural tubing and plate. Laclede was one of the companies contracted by the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...

to supply steel for

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

in 1967. As a cost-saving measure, the Port Authority chose to use many different, smaller steel suppliers such as Laclede, bidding on smaller portions of steel, rather than buying larger amounts from a single source such as

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

. Working in the steel mill was featured in an episode of

Dirty Jobs ''Dirty Jobs'' is an American television series that originally aired on the Discovery Channel in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the job's current employees. The sho ...

. In August 2019, Alton Steel employees took possession of the company through an

employee stock ownership Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Em ...

plan.

References

*{{cite web, url=http://www.steelnews.com/companies/producers/laclede_archive.htm , title=Laclede Steel Background , accessdate=2007-05-17 , publisher=SteelNews.com , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060318111634/http://www.steelnews.com/companies/producers/laclede_archive.htm , archivedate=March 18, 2006

External links

Alton Steel
(official site) Alton, Illinois Companies based in Madison County, Illinois