American Tire and Recycling isn't coming to Racine, a company official said Wednesday.
"We're still trying to find our direction," said Tom Tomaszewski, sales and marketing manager for American Tire and Recycling. "Racine as we initally identified it is not going to happen."
American Tire and Recycling had planned, with assistance from the city, to open a tire recycling operation at 2301 S. Memorial Drive. The company initially planned to hire 33 workers and 20 truck drivers with the intention of hiring 88 people within 18 months.
Tomaszewski said the economy prevented the company from expanding like it had intended.
"It's a simple fact that the current economic climate makes expansion, even with help, extremely difficult," he said.
The city had agreed to spend $39,600 to cover American Tire's rent for 18 months.
Tomaszewski said he worked with some "very impressive" people to try and make the Racine expansion possible. He complimented Jenny Trick of the Racine County Economic Development Corp. and her staff for their efforts.
"We appreciate the city's offer, but the bigger pieces weren't going to happen," Tomaszewski said.
"Money isn't available from any source," he added.
American Tire is operating at two sites. It's collecting tires in New London, located northwest of Appleton, and shredding tires in Niagara, Wis., which is located on the Wisconsin-Michigan border.
The company is owned by Keary Ecklund, who referred questions to Tomaszewski.
The city approved spending the $39,600 for American Tire and Recycling's rent in December.
Showing posts with label American Tire and Recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Tire and Recycling. Show all posts
January 28, 2010
Attorney: No local businesses being forced out for American Tire and Recycling
If American Tire and Recycling moves into Racine, it will not displace a local business at 2301 S. Memorial Drive, according to an attorney who worked on the deal.
Attorney John Bjelajac helped Leonard Investments, of Racine, purchase the trucking terminal on South Memorial Drive for $470,000. The sale was approved in court this week as part of SC Johnson's awarded damages in the Milt Morris corruption case.
Leonard Investments, owned by Rick Leonard of Floyd's Trucking in Racine, plans to lease space in the trucking terminal to American Tire and Recycling, which could bring as many as 88 jobs to the city.
Three businesses - Elite Systems, ABF Freight Systems and Siam Transportation - now lease space at 2301 S. Memorial Drive, Bjelajac said.
Elite Systems, which attempted to buy the building itself, has a lease through 2011, Bjelajac said. The company intends to stay in the building and did not object to Leonard Investments buying the building, he said.
ABF is looking to get out of its lease in the trucking terminal, Bjelajac said. That would free up the space needed for American Tire and Recycling to move in, he said.
Siam Transportation rents office space in the building and won't impact the American Tire and Recycling Deal, Bjelajac said.
"No one is being forced out," Bjelajac said. "ABF wishes to be out, and we'll coordinate that" with American Tire's lease.
Attorney John Bjelajac helped Leonard Investments, of Racine, purchase the trucking terminal on South Memorial Drive for $470,000. The sale was approved in court this week as part of SC Johnson's awarded damages in the Milt Morris corruption case.
Leonard Investments, owned by Rick Leonard of Floyd's Trucking in Racine, plans to lease space in the trucking terminal to American Tire and Recycling, which could bring as many as 88 jobs to the city.
Three businesses - Elite Systems, ABF Freight Systems and Siam Transportation - now lease space at 2301 S. Memorial Drive, Bjelajac said.
Elite Systems, which attempted to buy the building itself, has a lease through 2011, Bjelajac said. The company intends to stay in the building and did not object to Leonard Investments buying the building, he said.
ABF is looking to get out of its lease in the trucking terminal, Bjelajac said. That would free up the space needed for American Tire and Recycling to move in, he said.
Siam Transportation rents office space in the building and won't impact the American Tire and Recycling Deal, Bjelajac said.
"No one is being forced out," Bjelajac said. "ABF wishes to be out, and we'll coordinate that" with American Tire's lease.
January 26, 2010
Court ruling buoys hopes to lure recycling company's 88 jobs to Racine
City efforts to bring 88 jobs to South Memorial Drive dodged a bullet in court this week.
Judge Wayne Marik accepted a Racine company's last-minute bid on Monday to purchase a trucking depot at 2301 S. Memorial Drive that was caught up in the SC Johnson bribery scandal.
Marik's ruling paves the way for Leonard Investments to buy the building and continue to lure an out-of-town tire recycling company to Racine.
American Tire & Recycling is planning to open a production facility at the Memorial Drive trucking depot. Leonard Investments expressed an interest in buying the building and leasing it out to American Tire & Recycling, but those plans were complicated when a third buyer entered the picture.
Elite Systems LLC, which is housed in the building, submitted a bid to the court to buy the depot for $460,000 on Jan. 6. American Tire & Recycling balked at working with Elite Systems, according to a city official. The company threatened to bail on the Racine deal and open its recycling business in Burlington, the official said.
The city got some help from SC Johnson, which stands to profit from the sale of 2301 S. Memorial Drive. The building was awarded to the company as part of $147 million in damages awarded to SC Johnson in the Milt Morris corruption trial.
Judge Wayne Marik accepted a Racine company's last-minute bid on Monday to purchase a trucking depot at 2301 S. Memorial Drive that was caught up in the SC Johnson bribery scandal.
Marik's ruling paves the way for Leonard Investments to buy the building and continue to lure an out-of-town tire recycling company to Racine.
American Tire & Recycling is planning to open a production facility at the Memorial Drive trucking depot. Leonard Investments expressed an interest in buying the building and leasing it out to American Tire & Recycling, but those plans were complicated when a third buyer entered the picture.
Elite Systems LLC, which is housed in the building, submitted a bid to the court to buy the depot for $460,000 on Jan. 6. American Tire & Recycling balked at working with Elite Systems, according to a city official. The company threatened to bail on the Racine deal and open its recycling business in Burlington, the official said.
That left the city scrambling to support Leonard Investments' bid to, hopefully, bring in American Tire and Recycling's 88 jobs, the official said. The jobs were particularly appealing to Racine leaders because the company offered low-skill jobs that will reduce the city's soaring unemployment rate.
The city got some help from SC Johnson, which stands to profit from the sale of 2301 S. Memorial Drive. The building was awarded to the company as part of $147 million in damages awarded to SC Johnson in the Milt Morris corruption trial.
SC Johnson supported Leonard Investments' $470,000 bid for the building, according to court records. The company will make about $200,000 on the sale, minus a $215,000 mortgage on the property and additional transaction costs.
Leonard Investments, owned by Rick Leonard, who also owns Floyd's Trucking in Racine, will take over the property, which currently holds leases for three businesses. Siam Transportation, ABF Freight Systems and Elite Systems are all located in the building, according to court records.
Leonard didn't return a message left at Floyd's Trucking on Monday. An employee at Elite Systems said they were unaware of any sale involving the building.
An employee at Elite Systems said Monday they didn't know anything about the sale of the building.
When asked if the city was happy with Marik's ruling, a city official simply gave a thumbs up.
December 7, 2009
City plan to pay company for jobs is 'unique,' development director says
The city is one step closer to paying a company to bring jobs to Racine.The Finance and Personnel committee voted 3-1 Monday night to allow the city to enter into a developer's agreement with American Tire and Recycling, which is based on the Wisconsin-Michigan border in Niagara, Wis.
The city would pay American Tire $39,600 to cover the company's rent at 2301 S. Memorial Drive for 18 months. In exchange, the company is committed to creating 88 jobs over 18 months, with city residents getting first shot at the jobs.
City Development Director Brian O'Connell said the jobs incentive grant was "unique" for Racine.
"I don't think I've brought anything to you that's only a jobs incentive grant," O'Connell said.
Committee members passed the proposal despite unanswered questions. Aldermen asked City Development Director Brian O'Connell to find out how much the jobs will pay and if they're union jobs.
Alderman Terry McCarthy also requested the company lay out a specific schedule for when it will create jobs, and then have the city tie the rent payments to job creation.
O'Connell said the city would pay American Tire's rent on a quarterly basis, with the first payment of $6,600 coming when the company takes occupancy of the South Memorial Drive Building.
The company is committed to immediately hiring 33 low-skill workers and 20 truck drivers for the Racine site. It intends to ramp up to two shifts with a total of 88 workers over the next year and a half.
While the low-skill jobs may not pay great, O'Connell said, they're needed in Racine. The city has a large unskilled workforce that could use jobs that don't require degrees or advanced training.
"There are a lot of people without skills who need money," O'Connell said.
The meeting started with O'Connell taking some heat from the committee for providing a written review of the agreement on Monday, the same day as the meeting.
"Is there any way this committee can be better informed?" Alderman Q.A. Shakoor II asked O'Connell.
O'Connell said he didn't have an excuse. "It's the simple press of business," O'Connell responded to Shakoor. "I don't have a better reason."
Shields wanted to defer action on the proposal until the committee's Dec. 21 meeting, which may get canceled because it's the week of Christmas. That would push off a City Council vote to Jan. 5.
Instead, the committee voted to pass the proposal with the understanding O'Connell would bring more information to the City Council meeting on Dec. 15.
This was the second city committee to take up the proposal. The Redevelopment Authority approved the developer's agreement last week.
Keary Ecklund, head of American Tire and Recycling, did not attend either meeting, leaving O'Connell to present the agreement and answer questions.
December 6, 2009
Answering and raising questions about American Tire and Recycling; Proposed Racine business to use tires to generate power
Our last story on American Tire and Recycling, a company planning to open in Racine next month, drew two interesting comments from people in the know:
The interview with Ecklund went well. He talked openly about his company's plans for Racine and how it will tie into their operations in Niagara, which is about three hours north on the Wisconsin-Michigan border.
Ecklund said the plan is to setup a simple tire collection point on Memorial Drive in Racine. Truck drivers will collect used tired from a radius of 100 miles and bring them to Racine, where workers will cut the treads from the sidewalls and then put them on another truck, which will drive the cut tires to Niagara for recycling.
Ecklund said he's planning to hire about 90 employees to work two shifts. The employees will work four 10-hour days in a row and then get four days off. The jobs will be low-skill jobs at the site and truck drivers to collect materials. There will be no scrap material on site.
We discovered a few new specifics about the company, including how it makes business sense to collect tires in Racine and ship them all the way to Niagara for recycling. The reason: biomass fuel.
Ecklund said his company is recycling tires to sell to paper plants, which use the material to burn with biomass, mostly wood, to run their plants. The rubber helps the biomass burn more efficiently. Recycled tires burn consistently at 16,000 BTUs, while biomass burns at between 6,000 and 9,000 BTUs. Combining the two ingredients helps raise the temperature of the biomass and even out the temperature.
It's a good market for American Tire because several major paper plants are switching to biomass as a more reliable fuel than coal, which has fluctuated in price in recent years, Ecklund said. Biomass is also a renewable resource. Paper company harvest forests every 20 years, which is a lot quicker than coal is produced.
He added We Energies and other companies are also planning to build biomass plants in the coming years, which gives American Tire additional customers for its materials. (Read a 2008 story about his plans, which says he can get $50 a ton for tire-derived fuels.)
Ecklund said American Tire originally setup its recycling operation in northern Michigan, but had to shut down because it was drawing too much power from the region. "We were making lights flicker in people's homes," Ecklund said.
His company is planning to move into a former power plant in Niagara, which offers plenty of energy infrastructure to run the recycling business.
Ecklund said he learned about the terminal on Memorial Drive in Racine because his family has run a trucking company for many years. He said he knew every "nook and cranny" for trucking companies in the state.
"We're excited to get in there," Ecklund said.
What was interesting about the interview with Ecklund was the number of minor differences he shared with the information provided to city officials at last week's RDA meeting. RCEDC and city officials suggested the business was up and running, but it's not. Ecklund only received approval to move into its Niagara site last week.
Officials also suggested a similar operation to the one in Racine was running in the La Crosse area, but Ecklund said they had no other sites running in the state. If the Racine operation goes well, he said, they're looking at two other tire collection sites in Wisconsin.
Officials also made no mention of the use of recycled tires for power plants - they only said uses would include shredding tires for playground surfaces - and didn't tell the RDA about Ecklund's significant ties to scrap and recycling companies. While not critical information, it was very difficult to track down information about a company named "American Tire and Recycling" in Wisconsin. It was significantly easier to find information about Ecklund's scrap business.
While we seem to have an answer to the first commenter's question - Why did Kerry leave Michigan? - we haven't researched Ecklund's track record in other communities. It probably makes sense to look further into his companies before the city approves just under $40,000 in free rent for the operation.
That said, jobs are jobs. If American Tire is going to put 80-90 people to work in Racine, it's hard to blame officials for taking a leap-before-you-look approach to welcoming the business to the city.
I have had dealings with the CEO of American Tire & Recycling,Kerry Ecklund. He is also the owner of Keweenaw Scrap Tire & Metal. He means well, however, is looking for hand-outs. He knows how to dodge bullets, and manipulate the public relations machine. The cities of Racine and Niagara need to consult with the Michigan D.E.Q., Calumet (MI)Township, Houghton (MI) County. Ask about revolving loans, development block grants and loans. How many were paid back? Why did Kerry pack-up his shredder operation in MI and move to WI?and
American Tire & Recycling doesn't seem to be an efficient operation,refering to the plan to ship tire parts to/from Niagara/Racine.Anyone in the recycling industry can tell yopu that the more you move products/by-products around,the more costs accrue.If all they plan to do is make T.D.F. (tire derived fuel), they'll not last very long.T.D.F. is a low-grade product that sells for $20 to $50 per ton. Real tire recyclers furthur refine tire shred to such products that command a premium on the recycled rubber market (crumb rubber,playground surfacing). As one who is heavily involved in the tire recycling industry, I think American Tire Recycling is a company looking to operate with other peoples money to benefit company shareholders. This has happened before.We've done some background research on American Tire, and there's a shred of truth to the comments. Keary Ecklund, head of American Tire, is tied to a large scrap metal company in northern Michigan. (We actually reached Ecklund at Keweenaw Scrap Metal in Hancock, Mich.) His family also owns Ecklund Carriers, a national trucking company.
The interview with Ecklund went well. He talked openly about his company's plans for Racine and how it will tie into their operations in Niagara, which is about three hours north on the Wisconsin-Michigan border.
Ecklund said the plan is to setup a simple tire collection point on Memorial Drive in Racine. Truck drivers will collect used tired from a radius of 100 miles and bring them to Racine, where workers will cut the treads from the sidewalls and then put them on another truck, which will drive the cut tires to Niagara for recycling.
Ecklund said he's planning to hire about 90 employees to work two shifts. The employees will work four 10-hour days in a row and then get four days off. The jobs will be low-skill jobs at the site and truck drivers to collect materials. There will be no scrap material on site.
We discovered a few new specifics about the company, including how it makes business sense to collect tires in Racine and ship them all the way to Niagara for recycling. The reason: biomass fuel.
Ecklund said his company is recycling tires to sell to paper plants, which use the material to burn with biomass, mostly wood, to run their plants. The rubber helps the biomass burn more efficiently. Recycled tires burn consistently at 16,000 BTUs, while biomass burns at between 6,000 and 9,000 BTUs. Combining the two ingredients helps raise the temperature of the biomass and even out the temperature.
It's a good market for American Tire because several major paper plants are switching to biomass as a more reliable fuel than coal, which has fluctuated in price in recent years, Ecklund said. Biomass is also a renewable resource. Paper company harvest forests every 20 years, which is a lot quicker than coal is produced.
He added We Energies and other companies are also planning to build biomass plants in the coming years, which gives American Tire additional customers for its materials. (Read a 2008 story about his plans, which says he can get $50 a ton for tire-derived fuels.)
Ecklund said American Tire originally setup its recycling operation in northern Michigan, but had to shut down because it was drawing too much power from the region. "We were making lights flicker in people's homes," Ecklund said.
His company is planning to move into a former power plant in Niagara, which offers plenty of energy infrastructure to run the recycling business.
Ecklund said he learned about the terminal on Memorial Drive in Racine because his family has run a trucking company for many years. He said he knew every "nook and cranny" for trucking companies in the state.
"We're excited to get in there," Ecklund said.
What was interesting about the interview with Ecklund was the number of minor differences he shared with the information provided to city officials at last week's RDA meeting. RCEDC and city officials suggested the business was up and running, but it's not. Ecklund only received approval to move into its Niagara site last week.
Officials also suggested a similar operation to the one in Racine was running in the La Crosse area, but Ecklund said they had no other sites running in the state. If the Racine operation goes well, he said, they're looking at two other tire collection sites in Wisconsin.
Officials also made no mention of the use of recycled tires for power plants - they only said uses would include shredding tires for playground surfaces - and didn't tell the RDA about Ecklund's significant ties to scrap and recycling companies. While not critical information, it was very difficult to track down information about a company named "American Tire and Recycling" in Wisconsin. It was significantly easier to find information about Ecklund's scrap business.
While we seem to have an answer to the first commenter's question - Why did Kerry leave Michigan? - we haven't researched Ecklund's track record in other communities. It probably makes sense to look further into his companies before the city approves just under $40,000 in free rent for the operation.
That said, jobs are jobs. If American Tire is going to put 80-90 people to work in Racine, it's hard to blame officials for taking a leap-before-you-look approach to welcoming the business to the city.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)