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Trial by fire: a damaging fire did not stop Universal Metal Corp., Worcester, Mass., from serving its titanium and specialty alloy customers.

Article Excerpt
The worst-case fire scenario for a business owner is not much different than that for a typical homeowner. A fire sweeping through a property can destroy keepsakes, vital records and the furniture and equipment that is necessary to function from one day to the next.

Universal Metal Corp., Worcester, Mass., experienced a close of that worst-case scenario in the fall of 2001, when a fire swept through a portion of the company's three-acre specialty metals recycling facility. The blaze destroyed 25,000 square feet of the company's 60,000 square feet of space.

SPECIALTY ORDERS

Many scrap dealers pride themselves in the wide range of commodities in which they deal, and in their ability to find a home for any number of metallic and nonmetallic secondary commodities.

The approach taken by specialty metals dealers like Universal Metal Corp., however, is very different. According to president and CEO Stuart Freilich, the company deals exclusively in titanium and high-temperature alloy scrap. "We're basically a wholesaler to the trade," says Freilich. "80 percent of our scrap comes from other scrap dealers around the world, and the balance from large generators."

The company was started in 1953 by Freilich's father Joseph, From the beginning the company concentrated on high-temperature alloys, initially including more common forms of stainless steel scrap.

The company purchased the property where it is currently located in 1970, converting a former stamping plant into its home. Steady...

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