August 16, 2004

For more information contact: 

Contact: Mike Kruse
Heidtman Steel Products, Inc.
Vice President, Marketing and Sales Administration
Phone: 800-521-9531
Mike.Kruse@heidtman.com

HEIDTMAN CELEBRATES 50 YEARS IN THE STEEL INDUSTRY

Press Release
For Immediate Release

HEIDTMAN CELEBRATES 50 YEARS IN THE STEEL INDUSTRY

October 26, 2004, Toledo, Ohio – In 1954, F. William “Fred” Heidtman started a small, family-owned flat rolled steel operation offering shearing services called Heidtman Steel Products. A short time later his son, F. William “Bill” Heidtman, Jr. joined him in the business. In 1962 the company became incorporated, and today Heidtman Steel Products Inc. is still on the cutting edge of innovation in the steel industry and is proud to celebrate 50 years in business.

In 1963, Bill Heidtman hired a young man named John Bates to help run the company’s daily operations. While attending Michigan State University, John had spent summers working at Heidtman and upon becoming a permanent employee, had lofty ideas for the company’s growth. Bill Heidtman was pleased to share the burden of operating a small business with someone, and soon the two gentlemen became an unstoppable team and fast friends. In the early years of their relationship, they recall doing everything themselves, from selling the products, processing them, delivering them and starting the same process over again the next day. A major challenge was presented when the small steel operation was destroyed by a tornado in 1965, but through John and Bill’s sheer determination, and the kindness of a competitor who lent them a facility, the company survived.

John and Bill moved the company to Toledo’s Fort Industry Industrial Park in 1967, a facility still in operation. The 1970s were times of change and development and Heidtman began proving itself a leader in the industry. The growth of Heidtman Steel became significant when the company upgraded its slitting equipment in 1971. The pioneering continued with the development and marketing of high-strength steels in the early ’70’s. By the mid seventies, Heidtman was established as the first service center able to market and apply the high strength steels used prolifically by the automotive and trucking industry to reduce weight. Heidtman completed the decade with the construction of its first continuous hydrochloric pickling facility in Erie, Michigan.

In 1983, Heidtman employed cutting edge technology when it entered a joint venture to begin a hot dipped galvanizing line with National Materials. From transportation and service networks in the early ’80s to the first service center with its own continuous galvanizing line in ’84, the decade saw the company dramatically expand the size and scope of its operations from St. Louis to Baltimore.

The 1990s brought about expansion in Crawfordsville and Butler Indiana. The Butler facility began as an outgrowth of Heidtman’s investment in the Steel Dynamics (SDI) thin slab mill, making Heidtman a new classification of supplier to the automotive industry.

In late 2004, John Bates named Tim Berra, President of Heidtman Steel Inc. Bates continues to oversee a portion of the company and is still the majority shareholder of the privately owned company. Heidtman Steel Products Inc. is a recognized force in the industry with 11 processing centers, including seven pickling facilities and annual sales exceeding $700 million.

About Heidtman Steel
Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Heidtman Steel is a world leader in marketing flat-rolled carbon steel products sold through its 11 state-of-the-art processing facilities. Noted for their expertise in high strength steels, Heidtman processes nearly five million tons of steel annually through its Heidtman facilities or through joint ventures. Its products are distributed to industries including automotive, truck and bus, construction, pipe and tube, metal building, appliances, and furniture. For more information on Heidtman Steel, log on to heidtman.com.