CALVERT, Ala. (WPMI) Outokumpu Stainless is still looking for people to fill open shift positions at the Calvert plant.
The European company officially purchased the plant from Thyssenkrup in Decemeber; opening the doors for the company to finally have a United States stainless steel facility. Like Airbus, that means more jobs and more revenue for the state.
"Stainless is used in a lot of appliances like sinks. Automotive exhaust is made of stainless steel," said Dr. Guido Stebner, Director of Operations for Thyssenkrup.
Inside the new Outokumpu plant is advanced technology that's taking scrap, melting it down, then molding and turning it into stainless steel within hours. Outokumpu Stainless is pumping out thousands of tons of steel a day through its new advanced melt shop.
"It's really the center piece of the whole operation because from there we'll be able to supply the U.S. as well as Latin America and Mexico," said David Scheid, Vice President of Human Resources at Outokumpu.
In order to create the volume the plant wants, it's going to take four fully staffed 12 hour shifts. Right now it's operating with just two shifts, which means the company is looking for employees.
"We're always looking for people who have the desire to learn and learn new things in the industry here. We're hoping to have the third shift on board sometime by the end of March," said Scheid.
Outokumpu's CEO, Michael Wallis, said this is just the beginning. Once the company is running around the clock, seven days a week, he's expecting to dominate the stainless steel market.
"Our goal is to be number one stainless in the world and here in the U.S.," said Michael Wallis
