STS STEEL Online / About Us

<p>Welcome to STS Steel Online.  <br> <br> <b>Owners Background<br> </b><br> Jim Stori and Glenn Tabolt founded STS Steel in 1984. Jim started his career in 1969 with Bethlehem Steel after graduating from Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Masters degree in structural engineering. While at Bethlehem Jim worked on a variety of large and complex structures including the Hartford Civic Center and the Caruthersville bridge over the Mississippi. After leaving Bethlehem's fabrication division when it closed in 1975, Jim worked with Nash Steel, Phelps and General Steel Fabricators in a variety of engineering, project management, and executive positions. Jim is licensed professional engineer in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and serves on the board of directors for A.I.S.C. Glenn started his career with Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel (PDM) in 1978 after graduating from Clarkson University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. While at PDM Glenn worked in general engineering, plant engineering and project management on several large bridges, pressure vessels and building projects. He also earned his MBA from the University of Pittsburgh before joining Jim at General Steel Fabricators in 1981 and is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State. <br> <br> <b>Company History<br> </b><br> While at General Steel Fabricators Glenn and Jim developed a mutual respect for each other's complimentary capabilities. Friendly discussions outside of work about values and beliefs lead to more serious considerations of establishing a business that held integrity and quality paramount. While this was an exciting possibility, there were still many steps to be taken between after-work conversations and starting a fabrication company. Jim and Glenn were confident in their ability to engineer and manage projects but someone had to actually fabricate the work. Both men felt they were up for the challenge of trading suits and ties for coveralls. <br> <br> The first few years were as exhilarating for the two owners as they were difficult. After an extensive search for a building they selected a 7,000-sq. ft. warehouse in a tough section of Troy, NY. The price was right but there were some inconveniences, the biggest being a lack of running water. Frequent trips to a local automotive shop to make use of their indoor plumbing made the first priority of business rather obvious. The first employee of STS Steel was assigned the task of creating a hole in the concrete floor where the new bathroom would be installed. They found out later why he looked so natural swinging the heavy sledgehammer against the concrete floor: He was out on parole for assault. This was the first of many lessons in human resource management that wasn't learned in business school. <br> <br> With some helpful advice from Lincoln Electric, STS acquired some used welding machines and began the process of setting up shop. Installing equipment and fabricating jobs kept Jim and Glenn busy during the day while accounting and estimating occupied their evenings. Meeting schedule commitments became a family affair when an early job required some long days. The men's wives brought dinner and the kids to the shop so the family could eat together, and then it was back to work. <br> <br> STS developed a niche fabricating challenging small projects with complex drawings or difficult fabrication details that were passed over by the traditional beam and column shops. The company grew as their reputation for meeting commitments to schedule and quality became known to area contractors. In 1989 having out grown their Troy plant they moved into a 62,000 sq.-ft. heavy fabrication shop originally built in 1919 by American Locomotive in Schenectady, NY. The building has three bays, high ceilings overhead cranes with lifting capacities of 75 tons, numerous jib cranes, and, thankfully, running water. <br> <br> Early projects in the new facility continued the tradition of performing complex work but on a much larger scale. STS was successful in fabricating large trusses for the front entrance to the Pepsi Arena and the SUNY Albany Field House. The large capacity of the new shop also allowed STS to begin fabricating lock gates for the Erie Canal and DOT bridgework. As projects increased in size and complexity the need for more formal quality control became evident and STS decided to pursue A.I.S.C. quality certification. Starting with Complex Buildings STS has subsequently added Complex Bridges, Sophisticated Coatings and Fracture Critical certifications. <br> <br> STS is thankful for the many people who have been part of their success. Schenectady Economic Development Corporation was the major reason for moving to Schenectady. STS is supporting the vision for a better Schenectady with its membership in Schenectady 2000, a partnership of local business attempting to help revitalize downtown Schenectady. STS Steel also provided steel at a reduced price and a donation to build the Amphitheater in Schenectady's Central Park. <br> <br> Although the company has grown to over 60 employees, the owners are involved with all aspects of the business, striving to maintain the integrity and quality that has created a reputation for success at STS Steel.<br><br></p>