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The story
History
The company was founded in 1899 as The American Rolling Mill Company (ARMCO) in Middletown, Ohio, where it operated a production facility. George Matthew Verity (1865–1942) was a founder and its first president.
In 1914, the company began publishing the monthly ARMCO bulletin "to facilitate an interchange of thought and suggestion, and to create a better understanding of the activities and problems of the Operating Department employees."
In 1922, it opened a second production facility, Ashland Works in Ashland, Kentucky.
In 1956, the company acquired American Bantam, the original creator and manufacturer of the World War II Jeep. American Bantam switched to producing trailers after losing the Jeep contract to Willys-Overland.
In 1971, Armco Steel purchased Kansas City-based engineering firm Burns & McDonnell; however, in 1985, employees of Burns & McDonnell secured a loan to buy the company from Armco. In 1978, Armco Steel was renamed Armco, Inc. It moved its headquarters to New Jersey in 1985.
In 1982, a recession threatened the U.S. steel industry. Several of the nation's steel companies reported losses for the first half of the year, while other companies, like Armco, were barely breaking even. In 1989, it entered into a limited partnership with Kawasaki Steel Corporation, which contributed several of its production facilities to the company.
While the company achieved over $1 billion in annual sales in the early 1990s, it was not profitable. The company then hired the 65 year old Tom Graham and Richard M. Wardrop, Jr. to improve its finances. These executives divested unprofitable operations and replaced most of the company's executives and managers. In 1993, the company moved its headquarters to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and renamed itself AK Steel Holdings reflecting its Armco roots and sizable investment by Kawasaki. The same year, the company sold the Kansas City Bolt and Nut Company plant to Bain Capital to avoid its shutdown. In March 1994, the company became a public company via an initial public offering, using the proceeds to pay down its unmanageable debt load. In 1995, the company moved its headquarters back to Middletown. In 1996, Graham made the decision to spend $1.1 billion to construct a new steel production facility in Rockport, Indiana. Rifts with its unions and its safety record, including 10 fatalities at its plants in 4 years, resulted in fines and scrutiny from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1996 as well.
In 1999, the company acquired Armco Inc., its former parent company, for $1.3 billion.
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In 2002, there was a lock-out at the Mansfield, Ohio plant after a disagreement on a three-year labor contract with 620 USWA employees. In 2003, the labor dispute in Mansfield ended, the union workers returning to work alongside those who'd replaced them. In 2006, there was another lockout of 2,700 workers in Middletown, Ohio about another contract renewal. In 2007, the company moved its headquarters to West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio.
In 2014, the company acquired steel-making assets, including a coke-making facility and interests in 3 joint ventures that process flat-rolled steel products in Dearborn, Michigan, from Severstal for $700 million. In August 2017, the company acquired Precision Partners Holding Company for $360 million.
In March 2020, the company was acquired by Cleveland-Cliffs for $1.1 billion.
Historical films
The Romance of Iron and Steel (1938) is a 21-minute, black and white film sponsored by the American Rolling Mill Company (ARMCO) and produced by Cinécraft Productions. The title of the film comes from a theme of the steel exhibit at the Great Lakes Exposition held in Cleveland, Ohio in 1936–37. The film opens with an overview of the ARMCO Research Lab followed by a series of tracking shots taken from overhead cranes in an ARMCO plant that offer a unique perspective into the process of making rolled steel. George M. Verity, ARMCO founder, ends the film with a message about “ARMCO men” and the company culture.
From Wikipedia’s article on AK Steel, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7