Friday, May 3, 2013
The Sparrows Point advisory group stresses most of the jobs are at least 10 years away from reality.
A partnership created by Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, in unveiling its vision for the future of the industrial Sparows Point peninsula, says an expansion of the Port of Baltimore could bring more than 10,000 jobs back to the area. The Sparrows Point Partnership, a business advisory group established by the county after the former RG Steel mill closed in May 2012, announced its proposal at a press conference Friday. Chaired by Dan Gunderson, executive director of the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development, the partnership includes representatives from the Port of Baltimore and commercial, real estate, manufacturing, logistics and distribution entities in the region. The committee identified four major area of …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The new Baltimore County Steelworkers Career Program, funded by a $420,000 U.S. Department of Labor grant, enables some 2,000 workers to take advantage of federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) to secure job training.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
"A century of steel making as we know it has come to an end" in Baltimore County, says County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.
The future of more than five miles of land in Sparrows Point no longer lies in in the steel mills. Owners of the former RG Steel plant plan to sell off a $300 million cold mill and eventually raze the buildings on the property, selling the remains for scrap. A second company that owns the land will end up being responsible for helping the county shape the future of the industrial land, according to County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. "A century of steel-making as we know it has come to an end," said Kamenetz during a Thursday news conference. Kamenetz said Hilco Trading which owns some of the buildings and equipment, "plans to liquidate every asset and bring the structures down to the ground." The announcement brings an end to the plant that …
Friday, September 28, 2012
The mill will be sold or auctioned by the beginning of 2013.
The fate of the Sparrows Point steel mill again hangs in the balance. Environmental Liability Transfer and Hilco Trading, who purchased the former RG Steel back in August, plan to sell all or part of the mill by December. The Hilco website, which features several photos of the site, lists the sale as a "rare opportunity to purchase and operate a steel mill." Hilco has announced the following schedule for buyers: RG Steel sold the mill to the liquidators in August for $72 million, after no steel producers showed up at the auction in New York. More than 2,000 workers lost their jobs after RG Steel filed for bankruptcy in May. The company had purchased the former Bethlehem Steel from the Russian company Severstal North America in 2011, the …
Monday, August 6, 2012
Money originally earmarked for cross-training employees of RG Steel will now be used to help employees should the plant close permanently.
A grant that was intended for use in cross-training workers at RG Steel could now be used to train them for other jobs. The Baltimore County Council is scheduled Monday night to vote on a $420,000 federal grant that will be used to provide workshops and resource fairs to as many as 2,000 steel plant employees and up to another 1,000 others in jobs with plant-related businesses. Owners of the Sparrows Point plant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. Council approval is required in order for the county to spend the grant money. Dan Gundersen, county director of Economic Development, said the money was originally ear-maked to cross-train employees at the plant but will now be used "to help employees should the steel mill continue to …
Friday, July 27, 2012
"If there’s $20 million available at RG Steel, why isn’t it going to the workers?" —U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski
U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski has written a letter strongly urging RG Steel's top executives to voluntarily give up their million dollar bonuses and instead support the 2,000 workers who will be laid off when the company's Sparrows Point plant completely shuts down. “It is outrageous and unacceptable for executives to reward themselves with bonuses while laid-off workers are struggling to make ends meet,” Mikulski said in a statement. “Right now what we see over at RG Steel is a demonstration of moral bankruptcy. I called on the executives of RG Steel today to end this destructive culture of greed and self-enrichment.” A federal bankruptcy court judge approved a booms pool of about $20 million to be paid to 10 top executives, dependent upon …
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Ten executives could share a pool of more than $20 million.
A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday authorized RG Steel's plan to pay out more than $20 million in bonuses to top company executives. Ten senior executives, including CEO John Goodwin, would be eligible for the bonuses, if they accomplish certain goals, including selling the company's assets at a price that would satisfy the company's senior creditors, according to a Herald-Star (Steubenville, Ohio) report. No bonus money will be distributed until senior and junior lenders have been satisfied, according to the report. U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee Roberta DeAngelis and unsecured creditors, including the United Steelworkers union, had objected to the bonuses. Other executives eligible for bonuses are Rich Caruso, chief financial officer; Dave …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The group hopes to pursue a federal appeal despite steel company's bankruptcy filing.
Environmentalists are hoping they will be allowed to pursue a federal court appeal they filed shortly before RG Steel filed for bankruptcy last month. The group is asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge for permission to pursue the appeal involving RG Steel's Sparrows Point steel plant, according to an Associated Press report. "Bankruptcy filings routinely bring a halt to all litigation involving the debtor, but environmentalists are asking the judge to lift the automatic stay so they can pursue an appeal they filed just a few weeks before RG Steel's bankruptcy filing," the AP report stated. The environmentalists contend that an agreement between RG Steel and government regulators on water quality monitoring for toxic contaminants at and …
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Steelmaker owes Baltimore County $4.5 million in taxes and water and sewer fees.
Baltimore County has hired the law firm Venable LLP to represent its interest in a bankruptcy case filed by RG Steel. The steelmaker filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization May 31 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Baltimore County is owed $4.5 million in real and personal property, and sewage fees, according to Susan Dubin, an assistant Baltimore County attorney. The county's agreement piggybacks off a similar deal the firm has with Baltimore City, which retained the firm in the same case. The county hired the firm on June 11. "Baltimore City is also owed a lot of money in water taxes," Dubin told the Baltimore County Council Tuesday. "We thought it was the best interests of the county, since our …
Saturday, June 16, 2012
The task force formed by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz will meet June 21 at the Maryland Port Administration headquarters.
The Sparrows Point Partnership will hold its first meeting from 8:30 to 10 a.m. June 21, at the Maryland Port Administration headquarters in Baltimore, according to a statement from Baltimore County officials. The recently formed task force has been charged by County Executive Kevin Kamentz with studying the growth potential of the Port of Baltimore and advising county officials on business opportunities for industrially zoned properties on the Sparrows Point peninsula closest to the Seagirt Marine Terminal. The meeting, to be held in the 20th floor conference room at the World Trade Center, 401 E. Pratt St., is open to the public.
kevin
9:52 pm on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Sorry that last point was about NPGC, the point can be saved if they can make exclusions so Organized Crime can money launder and expand port they can change specs and open bids without enviromental Bogeyman they put in original bid.Manufacturing will bid if an honest spec is put out . truth is jobs that port will Create will be 12-18.00 an hour at most for majority .However a manufacturing … more ›