 |
Stephanie N. Green
|
St.
Louis, MO -- St. Louis-based structural steel fabricator Atlas Iron
Works has seen its share of challenges over the course of its
100-year-history, but with the fourth generation at its helm, the future looks
bright for the family-owned steel fabricator as it embarks on a major push
towards the future.
Under new ownership and leadership, Atlas is
focused on streamlining processes, introducing new technology, expanding
its product and service offerings nationwide and building partnerships
with other fabricators in the area while continuing to
shape surrounding communities.
In
February 2022, St. Louisans Kenton Klein and Randy Green
purchased Atlas Iron Works from Klein’s father, making Atlas Iron Works a
fourth-generation company.
 |
| Kenton Klein |
Longtime
entrepreneurs, the new owners have over 40 years of construction and technology
industry experience between them.
“We
shadowed employees and figured out there were some improvements to be
made," said Klein. "We asked Randy’s daughter Stephanie
to help us figure out the finances and streamline the operations.
"She saw the company’s potential, and
with the involvement of Atlas employees’ we have been able to revamp incredibly
stronger to continue Atlas’ legacy.”
Green
said he knew from the moment he walked on the shop floor for the first time
that he wanted to purchase Atlas Iron Works.
“The
amount of history that has been created inside our shop by the hands of our
employees is incredible; I wanted to be a part of it. Seeing the quality, skill
and dedication of Atlas’ employees was all it took for me,” said
Green.
 |
Stephanie Green and two Atlas staffers
|
The
first decision made by Klein and Green was hiring new management. “We
understood that it wasn’t going to take just anyone to get the company into the
21st century. Atlas
was going to need the right people in place, and the entire organization had to
pull together to achieve this company-wide goal,” said Green.
Klein
and Green appointed Stephanie Green as Vice President/CFO to manage the
company’s day-to-day operations, with Klein as president and Green as CEO.
Stephanie’s management experience started at
age 18 when she began helping her father manage the family’s construction,
electrical, HVAC and plumbing businesses.
She
attended night classes to achieve MBA/Supply Chain Management degrees while
running the family businesses during the day. The decision to step away from
running the family businesses for 12 years to manage Atlas Iron Works wasn’t an
easy one for her.
“With
my father expanding into other industries and acquiring five other businesses
since then, I decided it was time to leave and begin building Atlas Iron
Works,” said Stephanie.
“As
I accepted this new position, I vowed to myself in this role that I’d never
change the foundation of how Atlas got started, but we were going to implement
the changes necessary to grow and expand.
"I
can’t believe in a short amount of time what our team has been able to
accomplish from where we started. Our vision is clear - to never stop improving
our product, company culture, employees, and commitment to our customers.”
Atlas
Iron Works is embracing new ways of manufacturing with technology by working to
incorporate interactive labor data into its estimating software to produce more
accurate bids, production timelines and machine programming straight from
provided engineered files.
“The
technology we have chosen to implement will predict and track each order down
to the individual piece, with daily alerts when an expected deadline is ahead
of schedule, or behind schedule," said Klein.
"Coupled
with old school knowledge, feedback from the entire company, and prayers, Atlas
will grow stronger into the future while continuing to produce a superior steel
product like it has for the past 100 years.”
Atlas
specializes in structural steel fabrication (beams, columns, posts, girders,
anchor bolts, steel decking, joists and so much more), detailing/engineering,
miscellaneous fabrication, custom design builds, mezzanines/industrial
platforms, and erector services.
Atlas
Iron Works is recognized in the construction industry for its product
durability and ease of installation and its customer service.
The
company has produced and shipped steel for use in over 20,000 structures across
the country for a variety of industries, using only the finest quality U.S.
steel products.
Backed
by a AISC BU certification, Atlas currently employs 18 skilled men and women
and is currently expanding its workforce.
Since
taking over the company, the new leadership has worked to cut over
$800,000 in overhead, hire new office staff and shop workers, and develop plans
to modernize the shop and expand its product offering with the purchase of
custom-built beam line, plate burner and handrail machines scheduled for
delivery in early 2023.
The History of Atlas
Iron Works
 |
| Otto Klein |
Klein’s
great-grandfather Otto Klein founded Atlas Iron Works in 1922, along
with associates Bill Smith, Charles Galt and Arthur Koppen – four
friends who shared a vision to produce the finest quality fabricated steel
products in the country.
Combining
their years of experience in the steel industry, their personal integrity and
their commitment to quality, the visionaries opened Atlas Iron Works at 4020
Geraldine Ave. in North St. Louis, Missouri.
 |
| Charles Galt |
When
the Great Depression hit in 1929 and many companies failed, Otto bought out
Koppen and Smith’s shares in the company and managed to persevere despite
multiple years with sales of $1,000 or less.
At the start of World War II in 1939, Atlas
combined its facilities, workers, and equipment with 11 other steel fabricators
in the St. Louis area at the time to provide mass fabrication of structural
steel and miscellaneous iron work for the nation’s rapidly expanding war
program.
Atlas would continue to support the troops
throughout WWII by fabricating bulkheads for amphibious landing craft and
building the steel hull for the battleship USS Missouri.
 |
| Terry Zwick |
During the late 1970s,
William’s son, Richard, started working for Atlas and the company
ventured into the design and manufacture of custom, structural steel
mezzanines.
Atlas was able to
triple its business volume in the 1980s and 1990s as it updated its fabricating
equipment to include state-of-the-art Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
programming.
Atlas ran two shifts
until 1998 when it experienced a downturn in production and reduced its staff.
Richard was able to keep the shop open, often foregoing his own paycheck, even
after his Sales Manager/Vice President Terry Zwick retired in 2016.
Contact:
|
Jennifer Beidle
314-607-9459
jennifer@jbeidlepr.com
|
www.facebook.com/AtlasIronWorksEst1922.
314-383-7200 or
bid@atlasironworks.com.
%20USE.png)
