Globex Grows from 4 to 70, from Canfield to Serbia
CANFIELD, Ohio — An engineering firm that does most of its business with the steel industry has grown in 35 years from a four-man operation to 70 in North America and Europe.
Globex Corp. performs mechanical and structural engineering services for steel and metals manufacturers and is consistently looking to diversify and grow, says the owner and president, Greg Stanic.
“I would say we’ve brought in more than $100 million from outside the area to here” since the business started, he says as he walks through the Globex offices at 3620 Stutz Drive.
Stanic founded the company in 1980 after a German firm asked him and a business partner to represent its expansion into Canada and the United States. However, the recession the next year led to his business partner leaving, and Stanic struck out on his own with just four employees. “It was difficult,” he recalls.
Business improved gradually and the company secured several important contracts with the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin’s space operations division during the mid-1980s, Stanic recalls.
Since then, Globex has diversified and expanded its North American footprint to include offices in Chicago, Texas, and Ontario, Canada, says Brad Garwacki, vice president of sales.
“Most of our growth is in the Chicago area,” Garwacki notes. The company’s office is positioned to serve steel operations in Gary and Indiana Harbor in East Chicago, Ind. “Gary has four blast furnaces and there are four blast furnaces in Indiana Harbor. That’s eight within 20 miles when there might be 12 or 14 left in North America.”
The company provides engineering services related to the new construction of manufacturing operations, inspection, testing, and safety monitoring of steel mill equipment and structures, he says. “We worked with Vallourec on its new construction,” he says, referring to the $1 billion tube mill the company constructed here two years ago. More recently, Globex performed inspection work at the former Westinghouse complex in Sharon, Pa., where Ellwood Crankshaft is relocating some of its operations.
But it was the company’s relationship with U.S. Steel that encouraged Globex to open an overseas office in Serbia. When the corporation purchased a large plant in Serbia, Globex followed. When U.S. Steel sold its mill to the Serbian government after the Great Recession, the company decided to stay, but had to downsize its operation there.
“They asked us to support them in Europe,” Stanic says. “That led to other projects with Arcelor-Mittal in Europe.”
Garwacki says that about 95% of his company’s business today is devoted to the metals industry. At the moment, the tubular market is down, but flat-rolled steel and products associated with the automotive market are strong.
The Mahoning Valley is a perfect location for Globex’s headquarters, Garwacki observes, because it rests in the middle of an industrial corridor between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Globex is striving to diversify its customer base as it moves into other markets such as the energy sector. “We are cautiously positive,” Stanic says. “The steel industry does go through some difficult times and a certain portion of steel is related to energy.”
Much of what Globex does for the steel industry translates to end users such as the automotive and oil and gas sectors, Garwacki says. “A lot of the things we do in the steel industry correlate right into different industries such as oil and gas, energy, power generation and public utilities and government projects,” he says.
Pictured: Greg Stanic founded Canfield-based Globex Corp. in 1980. Brad Garwacki is the company’s vice president of sales.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
