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Milton E. Harris acquired two service organizations that specialized in concrete formers, anchor bolts, bar ties, whaler rods, snap ties and other assorted items. The first company was called Saunders Form Hardware, while the other one was located in a little hamlet called Laurel. That shop’s name? Laurel Steel Products.
Shortly after Milton purchased Laurel Steel Products operations were moved to Stoney Creek, Ontario. This was the site of Harris Rebar’s corporate office and fabricating facility.
1968 a single wire drawing machine was purchased that would change the face of Laurel Steel. We went from being a small supplier, to one that was sending out truckloads of wire to customers.
A Robinson Mesh machine was added to operations. The construction market was strong, and this would complement the wire drawing side of Laurel Steel.
We focused heavily on customer needs. Nothing seemed more logical than taking wire and cutting it into straight bars...Cold Finished Bar was born at Laurel!
Operations far outgrew the capacity of the Stoney Creek facility. A wholesale hardware firm in Burlington, Ontario had ceased operations, leaving behind a 90,000-square-foot facility, along with 12.9 acres of land.
Although Laurel Steel was still a part of Harris Steel, we became much more of a standalone entity. New market opportunities would allow us to grow and no longer rely heavily on the construction industry.
Building Laurel Using Employee Strengths To Achieve Results, BLUESTAR was born. Ideas were allowed to flow up from the production floor to create improvements in safety, operations, quality and costs.
Laurel Steel celebrated our 25th Anniversary on September 12th, 1992 with an Open House event held at our state-of-the-art facility.
We flexed our muscles, with the addition of 2 new machines we were able to produce and ship more steel than ever. Laurel began running 3 shifts on most lines and even had to add weekend shifts to support the demand.
In the late 90’s the industry demand was for small round steel bars that could be ground without bowing. We felt that switching to a small drawbench would be the answer, adding a new machine from EJP.
Looking to add 2 more wire drawing machines with an existing need of more storage, we chose to invest in a KASTO Unicompact Storage System. That system, still used today, is the largest of its kind in the world.
The KASTO System required building an addition onto our existing plant. It had to be a 95-foot high structure, with a foundation to support up to 18,000 tons of steel.
The KASTO Unicompact Storage System project was complete. Pick times are reduced to just 40 seconds, compared to 5 to 10 minutes for a standard system.
Laurel invested in a new EVG Mesh line to support the business that we had in Canadian mining and construction. The new EVG line runs at more than double the speed of the old line.
We further invested in Cold Finish Bar, this time it was a new 10-ton line. Our focus here was to improve our Cold Finish shapes processes.
March 26, 2005 marked the end of an era. After a brave fight, Milton Harris succumbed to his battle with cancer. He will forever be remembered as a pioneer in the Canadian Steel industry.
LEC Steel, a wire and mesh producer located in Brantford, Ontario, was purchased. LEC Steel was known as a leading steel processor that was relied upon by North American construction, mining, precast, parts manufacturing and product manufacturing companies.
Harris Steel Group officially announced that they had been acquired by Nucor Corporation. Harris Steel and Nucor had been working together for a number of years on the Rebar front. This deal would positively affect Laurel Steel.
Laurel Steel doesn’t just talk about being safe, we embrace it. Nothing is more important than safety; ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. From 2007 to 2013 Laurel Steel went over 2-million man-hours without a lost time accident!
The decision was made to close LEC-Steel in Brantford and consolidate operations to the Burlington facility. Certain machines were decommissioned in Brantford and installed at Laurel Steel in Burlington.
The time had come to upgrade our KASTO Unicompact Storage System. The tallest KASTO storage system of its kind in the world required system upgrades that were successfully completed with minimal disruption to our customers.
2017 marked the 50th anniversary of Laurel Steel. 50 years would not have been possible without our customers, shareholders, the City of Burlington and our teammates.
After setting an earnings record in 2018 the Nucor brand evolves, including an updated Mission Statement emphasizing a renewed focus on customer experience. Laurel Steel, a member of Nucor’s Family Of Brands, officially turned green with the release of our new logo.
The Quality of Our Steel Products Begin
with the World’s Finest Steel.
