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Article Excerpt
A chance connection with a railroad has brought "tons" of opportunity to Collier Metals LLC, a start-up distributor in Atlanta.
Founded by Jim Collier, a 21-year veteran of metals sales in the Southeast, the company began operations in earnest this January.
Collier launched his enterprise by purchasing a used slitting line. Next, he had to find a facility to house it, which led him to a fortuitous phone call.
"I started looking around for rental property with rail siding" he recalls. "I got in touch with Norfolk Southern [Railway Co.]. NF brought me to a piece of property they owned in the South Switching Yard in Atlanta. It was a locomotive repair facility that was shut down when they merged with Conrail."
He calls the property "a steel distributor's dream," because it includes 422,000 square feet in two buildings with rail sidings and numerous cranes under roof.
That wasn't the only help Collier Metals received from the railroad. Norfolk Southern qualified the new company as one of its Class 1 Steelnet facilities, the railroad's designation for distributors capable of providing top quality service for high-value steel and metal commodities.
Norfolk Southern also did some initial marketing for the company and connected Collier with its Modalgistics supply chain management group, which helps shippers choose the most effective mix of transportation modes, supply sources and warehousing options.
Collier Metals spent the last few months of 2002 getting its systems in place, fine-tuning the slitting line, beginning road improvements, and communicating with potential customers.
The company's capital investment to date is close to $1 million, not including inventory, and the owner expects to spend about $750,000 more this year for a second slitter and continuing...
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