A milestone in metals processing

A milestone in metals processing
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For nearly 40 years, River City Steel & Recycling has supplied south Texas mills with scrap. The company’s current owner, Justin Newell Triesch, also celebrates a milestone this year—he has been leading the operation for 30 years.

Alton S. Newell, Triesch’s grandfather, founder of Newell Recycling and pioneer of the first patented automobile and scrap metal shredder, established River City Steel & Recycling in 1982 in San Antonio. Newell opened the San Antonio business as an outlet for residential and commercial customers to dispose of unwanted scrap metal, according to information on the company’s website.

Justin Newell Triesch and his brother, Bobby Triesch, purchased River City Steel and Newell Recycling of Denver from their grandfather. The brothers ran the companies until 1996, when the brothers split the businesses.

“I stayed in San Antonio, and Bobby took over the Denver operation,” Triesch says. “I’ve been in control of this facility since 1996.”

Since the early 1990s, River City Steel has increased its processing capacity. In 1996, the company processed about 500 tons of shreddables and iron. Today, Triesch says the business processes 4,000 to 4,500 tons of shreddables and No. 1 heavy melting steel per month. He says investing in trucks and roll-off containers helped to boost its processing capacity.

“When we first started, we didn’t have any roll-offs,” he says. “Now, we have a fleet of four trucks with numerous roll-off boxes and trailers. That’s really helped bring in the tonnage, servicing manufacturing companies and oil field companies.”

River City Steel also has a stationary shear/logger/baler and several cutting heads to process the scrap. River City Steel primarily purchases and sells heavy metal plate and structural steel.

With its location in south Texas, oilfield companies are major customers of River City Steel.

“There are numerous oilfield companies—fracking, drilling,” Triesch says. “We service a lot of fracking companies. We supply south Texas and Mexican mills as well as export.”

A family-focused business

River City Steel & Recycling

During the four decades it’s been in business, River City Steel has operated as a family business. Triesch says his wife, Lina Triesch, oversees human resources and safety for the company.

River City Steel’s employee base has also grown from 22 in the 1990s to about 47 people today. Triesch says a few women are in leadership roles at the company.

“My head accountant is a woman, and a young lady I have on the scale had worked for my grandfather for years,” he says. “She’s the best scale person I’ve seen or had in all the places I’ve been around. She had experience working for my grandfather. When he retired, my uncle John Newell took over, and when he retired, she said, ‘I would like to stay on with the family.’

“The young lady running the accounting department came to us right out of college. She just proved herself very knowledgeable in accounting, working with the banks. She’s very good, very loyal and a lot of fun to work with and has been with us for more than 13 years now.”

Triesch adds that he gets inspiration from his grandfather, trying to run the business as he did with a focus on customer service. Triesch spends most of his time outside dealing with operations and helping customers.

“I really enjoy the processing part of the business,” Triesch says. “I love the hands-on side of it. I try to strive like my grandfather did and treat people the way he did. Treat people how you want to be treated and just get to know your customers. Be outside with them. You see your regular customers several days a week—I saw [my grandfather] do that. I saw so many people go up to him, shake his hand. He was always asking them about them and their families.”

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Source: Recycling Today
A milestone in metals processing
<![CDATA[For nearly 40 years, River City Steel & Recycling has supplied south Texas mills with scrap. The company’s current owner, Justin Newell Triesch, also celebrates a milestone this year—he has been leading the operation for 30 years. Alton S. Newell, Triesch’s grandfather, founder of Newell Recycling and pioneer of the first patented automobile and scrap metal shredder, established River City Steel & Recycling in 1982 in San Antonio. Newell opened the San Antonio business as an outlet for residential and commercial customers to dispose of unwanted scrap metal, according to information on the company’s website.Justin Newell Triesch and his brother, Bobby Triesch, purchased River City Steel and Newell Recycling of Denver from their grandfather. The brothers ran the companies until 1996, when the brothers split the businesses.“I stayed in San Antonio, and Bobby took over the Denver operation,” Triesch says. “I’ve been in control of this facility since 1996.” Since the early 1990s, River City Steel has increased its processing capacity. In 1996, the company processed about 500 tons of shreddables and iron. Today, Triesch says the business processes 4,000 to 4,500 tons of shreddables and No. 1 heavy melting steel per month. He says investing in trucks and roll-off…