Alliance Steel will relocate its Chicago-area facility from Bedford Park to Gary, Ind. The company is moving into a 250,000-square-foot building once owned by Republic Steel building and most recently occupied by ATCO-Gary Metal Technologies.
The move will take Alliance closer to the steel mills in Northwest Indiana, saving on freight. The company also received tax credits from the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
The move, which will cost an estimated $19.7 million, had been in the works for several years. "It was a long decision. We kind of put all of our ducks in a row and we got some nice state and local incentives. We found a spot that works for us instead of building our own building," said Andrew Gross, president of Alliance Steel.
The company will begin construction on the facility soon, then begin the move in stages, operating from both locations simultaneously for a while. Gross expects the company will begin cutting operations in both locations by the second half of the year, and hopes to be fully in the new location by the end of 2019.
Gross said the business climate in Indiana helped solidify the move. "From worker's comp to hourly wages to proximity to the highway system, there are so many reasons to be in Gary."
In conjunction with the move, Alliance will add a 76-inch wide, 1/2 inch slitter that will handle up to 90,000-pound coils.
Alliance is a flat-rolled specialist that offers slitting, cut-to-length, multi-blanking, stretcher leveling, shearing, cold reduction and laser cutting. It has been operating out of a warehouse complex in Bedford Park, while also operating a second facility in Atlanta.