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Mingo Junction official is hopeful for steel mill’s future

By SHELLEY HANSON Times Leader Staff Writer MARTINS FERRY — As JSW Steel looks to hire more employees for its local plant, the village of Mingo Junction is hoping to reap the benefits from the facility’s restart and also its plans to hire hundreds of additional workers. Mingo Junction Village Councilman Jeffrey Schuetz said Monday that it appears JSW Steel is more financially stable than some of the mill’s previous owners, which may bode well for the village’s future. “I think it’s going to be good for Mingo. They’re going to be buying a lot of water,” Schuetz said. “This company has the money to make things happen.” Mingo Junction upgraded its water plant more than 20 years ago to better serve what was then Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.’s Mingo Junction plant. However, with Wheeling-Pitt filing for bankruptcy and selling its operations and the Mingo plant being idled more more than a decade, the village and its residents have had to shoulder the financial burden for the water treatment facility. Schuetz said he did not believe the village had yet realized many large sales in water to JSW, but he anticipates they will in the future. “We’re happy to have them,” he added. JSW held a job hiring fair this past Saturday at the Mingo Junction municipal building. It is looking to hire crane operators, electricians and engineers to work at the facility, among other positions. The company late last year restarted the plant’s electric arc furnace, which is used to melt scrap steel into steel slabs. Schuetz noted he had a friend attend the job fair to get a laborer position, but they apparently were looking for more skilled workers. Along with jobs on the plant’s production line, JSW currently is looking for office positions such as manager of treasury and tax compliance, power distributor coordinator, network administrator, IT manager, staff accountant and others. In December, Pete Vojvodich, vice president of human resources and safety for JSW Steel USA, said the company planned to employ 1,000 people at Mingo and that it was investing $500 million into the plant. Vojvodich said previously that JSW Steel USA also was investing $500 million in its Baytown, Texas, plant, which will have a $4.8 billion economic impact on that community. He said he anticipated there would be a similar impact in the Mingo Junction region. JSW Steel is based in India and has facilities in more than 100 countries. After Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel filed for bankruptcy, the mill had other owners including Esmark, Severstal, RG Steel, Frontier and then Acero.

MARTINS FERRY — As JSW Steel looks to hire more employees for its local plant, the village of Mingo Junction is hoping to reap the benefits from the facility’s restart and also its plans to hire hundreds of additional workers.

Mingo Junction Village Councilman Jeffrey Schuetz said Monday that it appears JSW Steel is more financially stable than some of the mill’s previous owners, which may bode well for the village’s future.

“I think it’s going to be good for Mingo. They’re going to be buying a lot of water,” Schuetz said. “This company has the money to make things happen.”

Mingo Junction upgraded its water plant more than 20 years ago to better serve what was then Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.’s Mingo Junction plant.

However, with Wheeling-Pitt filing for bankruptcy and selling its operations and the Mingo plant being idled more more than a decade, the village and its residents have had to shoulder the financial burden for the water treatment facility.

Schuetz said he did not believe the village had yet realized many large sales in water to JSW, but he anticipates they will in the future.

“We’re happy to have them,” he added.

JSW held a job hiring fair this past Saturday at the Mingo Junction municipal building. It is looking to hire crane operators, electricians and engineers to work at the facility, among other positions.

The company late last year restarted the plant’s electric arc furnace, which is used to melt scrap steel into steel slabs.

Schuetz noted he had a friend attend the job fair to get a laborer position, but they apparently were looking for more skilled workers.

Along with jobs on the plant’s production line, JSW currently is looking for office positions such as manager of treasury and tax compliance, power distributor coordinator, network administrator, IT manager, staff accountant and others.

In December, Pete Vojvodich, vice president of human resources and safety for JSW Steel USA, said the company planned to employ 1,000 people at Mingo and that it was investing $500 million into the plant.

Vojvodich said previously that JSW Steel USA also was investing $500 million in its Baytown, Texas, plant, which will have a $4.8 billion economic impact on that community. He said he anticipated there would be a similar impact in the Mingo Junction region.

JSW Steel is based in India and has facilities in more than 100 countries.

After Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel filed for bankruptcy, the mill had other owners including Esmark, Severstal, RG Steel, Frontier and then Acero.

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