Dec 9, 2021 3 min read

The Canonsburg-based steel manufacturing company Ameri-Precision was recently awarded a $1 million grant through the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Project program.

But the company’s CEO, Ajay Goel, says the specialized carbon steel plant needs more to get fully up and running.

“We need about $10 million to complete the project. This $1 million is about 10%,” said Goel. “(There’s) about $8 million worth of equipment in our warehouse. We need the financing to install it so that we can complete the project.”

The project is phase two of three for Ameri-Precision, a subsidiary of Bethel Park-based parent company Ameri-Source Specialty Products. Ameri-Precision has almost 70 locals on its payroll and since last October, the company’s been in business manufacturing steel products from the 250,000-square-foot plant in Canonsburg.

To manufacture its full range of specialty steels, Ameri-Precision needs specialized equipment installed – and the money to install it.

“Without installation of phase two, the whole project is not very lucrative,” said Goel.

Right now, the equipment needed to manufacture other kinds of specialty steel is sitting on site. Goel said Ameri-Precision needs more money to install that equipment so that it can bring aboard roughly 20 more employees and begin the next phase of manufacturing.

Last year, the company was awarded a $1.5 million grant through PDAC to complete phase one, but Goel said that money hasn’t yet been released to Ameri-Precision.

“It’s one thing to be awarded,” said Goel. “It’s an entirely new game to actually see the … money.”

To cover costs, Goel has invested his own capital into Ameri-Precision. So far, he hasn’t had much luck securing investors, which is why the company relies so heavily on government grants.

“New investors, they seem to be more interested in Bitcoins or … social networking,” Goel said. “This is a pretty new project; it’s something which hasn’t been done for decades.”

Indeed, it’s been some time since the City of Steel ruled the industry. When Goel decided to expand Ameri-Source, Canonsburg, a Pittsburgh suburb, was a natural choice to set up shop.

“The steel processing units have slowly disappeared, gone overseas. Most of the people that work in my company, they have had their uncles, fathers … working in steel plants,” said Goel. “There is a natural DNA that is a real advantage of this area.”

Another advantage for Ameri-Precision is that the U.S. is hurting for manufacturing plants like it. Goel said the U.S. imports roughly 70% of its steel products. There are only three other specialized steel manufacturers in the U.S., as far as Goel knows. Those plants are in Wisconsin, Ohio and New Jersey.

“It is a shame. This is the last mile, this is becoming the toughest,” said Goel. “This is an import substitution project, and we are still having a lot of difficulty in raising just that amount of capital I need … to construct the installation. We have the source of raw materials, we have the source of operators. We have all the equipment, we have the building. What we need is the last portion (of funds) to install the plant.”