Steel Manufacturer Expanding At Port Of Indiana

Ratner Steel Supply is investing $8.83M to double the size of its operations at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in Portage, creating up to 37 new jobs by 2019.

Ratner Steel Supply Company will expand its operations at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in Portage, IN. The Roseville, MN-based company will invest $8.83 million to nearly double the size of its facility, and create up to 37 new jobs by 2019.

Port of Indiana Ratner Steel
Photo: Ratner Steel

Construction is currently underway to add an additional 100,000 square feet and is expected to be complete by March 2017. With its growth, the company plans to improve its logistics efficiency by providing additional space for loading and unloading steel shipments. Ratner Steel produces 300,000 tons of steel annually and is currently operating at capacity 24-hours each day.

Ratner Steel’s announcement follows the company’s decision in 2012 to locate a facility in Portage – its only facility outside Minnesota – when it committed to create 30 new jobs. The company has since exceeded its previous hiring goal and currently employs more than 50 associates in Portage as part of its team of 125 associates in Indiana and Minnesota.

“Four years ago when we were looking across the country for a location for a new steel facility, Indiana quickly became the obvious choice,” said Steven Gottlieb, president of Ratner Steel. “From the state’s business-friendly environment to a location at the Port of Indiana that allows us to efficiently distribute to customers in many states, Indiana has provided the ideal backdrop for our business to thrive. That’s allowing us an opportunity to dramatically grow our facility in Portage today, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Founded more than 30 years ago, Ratner Steel is family-owned company that produces carbon sheets of steel for manufacturing companies in the agriculture, transportation, general fabrication and service center industries. The company chose to locate its new facility in Indiana in 2012 because of the region’s manufacturing base, the port’s multimodal connections and extensive steel synergies as well as its convenient location for distributing steel quickly to Midwestern customers. In 2015, Ratner Steel was ranked one of the top 50 steel service centers in the United States by Metal Center News.

Port of Indiana
The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in Portage, IN. (Photo: Ports of Indiana)

“Once companies choose to hire Hoosiers, they’ll almost always want to hire more,” said Governor Mike Pence. “After picking Indiana for a new facility in 2012, Ratner Steel experienced the benefits of employing a strong team of Hoosiers, who are among the nation’s most skilled manufacturing professionals. Today, one in five Hoosiers work in the manufacturing industry, and that’s a strong asset for companies like Ratner Steel as they consider where to grow and invest in their futures.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Ratner Steel Supply Co. up to $260,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. These incentives are performance-based, so until employees are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Portage approved additional incentives at the request of the Portage Economic Development Corporation.

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