New Stelco chief sees HQ potential in Hamilton
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...baum-1.4398009
The chief executive at Stelco sees the Hamilton-based steel company as the centrepiece in what could become a large empire of companies.
And Stelco CEO Alan Kestenbaum said he sees Hamilton as the place to headquarter that empire.
"We see tremendous future to building on this company by buying more companies," Kestenbaum said.
The first time the Florida-based Kestenbaum visited Hamilton when his Bedrock Industries fund was kicking the steelmaker's tires, he at first saw only steel mills.
But as he spent more and more time in the city, he began to see more — "really nice restaurants" and "young, urban professionals," many of whom, he realized, currently commute to Toronto for jobs.
He sees a talent pool that could be tapped into, he said.
"We've been reaching out to the community trying to hire people, successfully so," Kestenbaum said. "We're in a perfect place to build a headquarters and each time we do go and add pieces to Stelco, we're building a management team right now that's going to be capable of managing those other assets from Hamilton."