Standard Steel gets a makeover


The 71-year-old company shows off bright new digs.

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During an open house Wednesday, Standard Steel Companies showed off its fancy new headquarters and factory on Columbia Boulevard. The sidewalks are fresh, landscaping is sculpted and the metal siding shines in the sunlight. 

The company’s investment in a new $5 million facility seems to be part of a larger Portland trend gussying up manufacturing facilities. Daimler Trucks North America built its new headquarters with a light filled design and amenities fit for a software company — or a boutique hotel. 

CEO Leland Waltuck likes to describe family-owned Standard Steel as a lumber yard for steel. The company makes steel beams, pipe and rebar, as well as custom cut product and ornamental iron. The compnay also has a history of reinventing itself. Slammed by the recession of 1980s, it closed in 1989, only to be reborn again as The Steel Yard. The company revived the original name in 2013.

The new space, which consolidates three facilities into one, will allow for greater efficiencies in workflow and production. It also coincides with the launch of a new product, Indital, an ornamental iron.  As one of the only U.S. suppliers, Standard Steel aims to sell the Italian product to architectural firms and a more upscale clientele. 

Here are several images of the new facility, inside and out.

 

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