TOP SMALL EMPLOYER
American Metals values its staff Company forges bond with its workforce, and supports employees on the job and off BY TIM BRYANT
Special to the Post-Dispatch
HAZELWOOD — “HR wants to see you” might be the last thing almost any company employee wants to hear. Not so at American Metals Supply Co., where human resources head Shelly Liley embraces the company ethos of supporting workers and carries the nonscary job title of director of employee engagement. Supporting workers on the job and even in their non-work lives is part of the corporate culture at American Metals, a wholesale distributor of steel, copper, HVAC components and other metal parts. American Metals, based in Hazelwood, took first place among small-size employers in this year’s Top Workplaces survey. Company employees, the survey showed, are more confident in their workplace than a benchmark of other employees of small area companies. More than a decade ago, American Metals got through the severe recession without laying off any employees and is keeping everyone on the payroll during the current coronavirus pandemic. The company has 121 employees in eight locations, including about 50 people at its headquarters and a warehouse in Fenton. Liley, who has been with the company for 15 years, said American Metals retains the friendly vibe of the family-run company founded in 1962 in Springfield, Illinois, by Al Hassebrock, a building materials salesman. His granddaughter, Chrissy Nardini, is American Metals’ current president and runs the company. Liley said that when the company’s home office was largely closed at the start of the pandemic, Nardini came in every day to try to keep workers’ surroundings as virus-free as possible. “Not every company president would be working and using Clorox wipes to make sure every employee is safe,” Liley 14
HILLARY LEVIN, HLEVIN@POST-DISPATCH.COM
From left, Shelly Liley, director of employee engagement; Jessi Willhoite, HR assistant; Chuck Hitchcock, vice president operations; and Chrissy Nardini, president of American Metals Supply, are shown in their Hazelwood warehouse in June.
AMERICAN METALS SUPPLY CO. Address • 1617 Park 370 Court, Hazelwood Website • americanmetalssupply.com Phone • 636-349-5560 Founded • 1962 Description • Wholesale distributor of sheet and coil steel, prefabricated duct and fittings, and HVAC products said. The company’s ability to avoid layoffs is a result of keeping the employee head-
TOP WORKPLACES • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 08.02.20
count low and lean. “We’ve stayed people-efficient,” Nardini said. Al Hassebrock’s son, Steve Hassebrock, joined the company in 1971 and in 1990 expanded the firm to the St. Louis area. Nardini, Steve Hassebrock’s daughter, spent years working as a public accountant before joining the family firm. “As a girl growing up, I never had a strong interest in sheet steel,” she said. Eventually, she asked her father about a job and came aboard in 1997. At first, her tasks included answering phones and working on the company catalog. She soon moved up to the chief finan-
cial officer’s job and has been president since 2006. Her father remains with the company as chief executive. Expansion under Steve Hassebrock and Nardini has been steady. In 2003, the company opened a warehouse in the Kansas City area and two years later expanded to Springfield, Missouri. The Hazelwood warehouse and headquarters opened in 2009 to augment the existing facility in Fenton. Between 2010 and 2018 came expansions to Indianapolis, Oklahoma City and Dallas. American Metals provides customers one-day deliveries within 200 miles of its warehouses. Nardini said rapid deliveries are good stltoday.com