Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVFollansbee Steel to close 110-year-old plant in Northern Panhandle

Follansbee Steel and its Sheet Metal Specialty Divisions will be closing their doors soon, unless a buyer for the 110-year old plant can be found.

Follansbee Steel, owned by the Ohio-based Louis Berkman Co., employs 36 people.

In a brief statement announcing the closing, company officials blamed the decision on "sustained unfavorable business conditions" but said they will work closely with customers to fill existing orders and otherwise minimize the impact of the closure.

"The way the economy is and has been, it's just tough to do business," said Mark Robinson, the company's executive vice president and general manager.   

Robinson said the company doesn't currently have a time frame as to when it will officially cease operations at the plant. That depends on how long it takes the plant to deplete materials stockpiled on site, he said, noting that the company will entertain new orders only to the extent that it can be filled with materials already purchased and in the plant.

"We will not be taking orders for materials we don't already have on the plant floor," said Robinson, adding his job also stands to be eliminated when the last order is filled. He's optimistic, though, that a buyer will step forward.

"The owners are looking at that, they are entertaining offers," he said. "We do have a couple companies that may be interested."

The Berkman Co. purchased the plant in 1954, selling its basic steel production operation to what was then Wheeling Steel while retaining its terne steel sheet line. The company — and the city of Follansbee — got its name from brothers John and Robert Follansbee, who purchased the operation and opened the plant in 1902.