The Recoiler - February 2017

February I Vol 55 I 2017

INDEX

2017 Outlook From Our Partners

As we turn the page on a new year, we look to our partner team for insight on where Mill Steel is headed in 2017.

Pam Heglund & David Samrick

What are our goals and objectives for 2017?

To continue to be an industry leader providing the best possible service to our customers. One of Mill Steel’s objectives is to focus our energy on unifying all business units towards one common goal of growth and profitability, while still maintaining our people first culture. Our Mill Steel family is what continues to drive Mill Steel’s success. We have put many resources into building a strong team, and we know 2017 will be a very prosperous year.

Can you comment on the growth from 2016?

2016 was an exceptional year as we achieved many company records.

Each and every month we produced record-breaking shipment volumes.

We broke into over 20 new target accounts. We acquired our Anderson facility and broke into a new market segment by offering narrow slit product. Steel Structural Products experienced a 51% volume increase year over year. And, finally our efficiencies continue to improve resulting in some of the highest incentive payouts to date.

How do you keep the inspiration and innovation alive in our company as it continues to grow? How do you maintain our people first culture?

We firmly believe that making Mill Steel an enjoyable place to work is the key to our people first culture.

All of our community outreach programs, our fun office activities, and of course, our dog friendly environment lift office moral! Our culture is founded on employee empowerment and instills an entrepreneurial sprit --

throughout our entire organization. • HR - Introduced a new health care Providing our associates with the auplan option (HSA Plan) for 2017. tonomy to make decisions and offer Health Savings Accounts plans are innovation keeps energy levels high. the wave of the future and Mill Steel is on the cutting edge with this new What have you learned in the last program. year that will help shape Mill Steel • IT – Sheryl and her team recently in the future? upgraded our hardware (a signifiAs Partner’s, we are very focused on cant investment) and re-configured growth and the big picture for the the network in an effort to prevent company. We learn so much from all against unexpected failures or delibof our associates and taking the time erate attacks. Redundancy, disaster to receive feedback and execute posirecovery and connectivity are likely tive changes has proved to be instrua higher priority today than ever mental in our growth model. before. Connectivity or service interruptions can, of course, be caused by Marc Rabitoy weather, equipment, operator error, How do you view Mill Steel as a cometc. As integrated as we are, connecpany, after joining us with “fresh eyes tivity, security and system integrity and a fresh perspective"? need to be this department’s numI would describe Mill Steel as extremeber one priority. ly dynamic. We act and react quickly • Accounting/Finance – Tom and his and decisively in almost every area team are in the final stages of selectof the business. I think this is one of ing a new software platform that will the primary reasons why Mill Steel is sit on top of our current operational so successful. This is not common in software program to help us in the larger corporations and likely why following areas; closing, consolidalarge entities struggle in competitive tion, reporting, planning and analymarket conditions. This leaves room sis. This is a major effort, and we are for nimble competitors like Mill Steel badly in need of this new tool. Once to capture additional market share complete, Mill Steel's accounting, or to more quickly course correct. As planning, and reporting software will a company grows, it sometimes loses be the latest and greatest in the inits ability to act quickly due to organidustry. zational complexity and the natural • Logistics – Alex and the team are on growth in bureaucracy. If we can masa mission to significantly reduce inter the balancing act between growbound and outbound freight costs ing the organization and needing to in 2017. Although this is not really a act quickly, the sky is the limit for Mill new concept for this team, they are Steel. applying new ideas, new tools, and a more focused approach in this effort.

There have been some changes within your domain since you joined the team. Can you comment on those opportunities and your impact on those changes?

My responsibilities cover a number of functional areas; Accounting, Information Technology, Logistics, Human Resources, etc. We have great leaders and staff in every one of these areas.

Tom Nagelkerk, Alex Krestakos and Sheryl King are veterans of the business and their daily focus is to effectively and efficiently serve our custom- Do you foresee any other changes ers, our people, and the business. I coming? think what I’ve been able to bring to Yes. We are in the middle of several all of these areas is a new vision and major projects, new initiatives and defocus. For example, we have launched partmental restructurings in support and/or completed initiatives in nearly of our continuing growth. every functional area:

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2017 Outlook Continued

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Associate Highlight: Jim Kozlowski

3 Health & Wealth Corner 4 Let's Celebrate!

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Building Products Team Bonding

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Insert: Hello My Name Is

Insert: Mill Steel - Recognition Program

NORMS

& VALUES

People We believe in ourselves and trust one another.

Customer Satisfaction We will do everything necessary to meet the needs of our customers.

Accountability We are accountable to our customers and to eachother.

Quality Work Environment We will provide a challenging work environment.

Community We support our community needs.

Profit We will earn a reasonable profit to assure stability and security for ourselves.

Employee Empowerment We are empowered to do our jobs.

Quality and Continuous Improvement We believe in continuous improvement through the use of corrective action process.

Facilities We will have a clean, safe place to work.

Integrity/Ethics We will be honest and fair.

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2017 Outlook Continued...

In IT, we will focus heavily on connectivity and network stability in 2017.

This should result in faster speeds and a more secure network. In Accounting/Finance, we will be adding talent and placing more emphasis on budgeting and forecasting at a business line, location and departmental level. In HR, we will be introducing a new 401(k) plan featuring state-of-the-art access options and new retirement planning tools. We will also be looking toward electronic enrollment and benefit management for all of our other benefits. In Logistics, we will be looking to leverage our existing transportation partnerships against up and coming service providers with an eye toward reducing our overall risk.

Carl Quenneville

Did we gain market share going into 2017? If so, was it existing or new customers?

No question, we gained market share heading into 2017 and while time will tell, our rate of gain may be upwards of 10% over 2016. What our history tells us – and 2017 is no exception – we can expect more growth from current customers than from new customers. This affirms a foundation of our growth: we will target the very best companies for business.

We deliberately target those companies that demonstrate consistent growth, industry-leading innovation and the highest character. Over the years, our expectation has proven these companies will experience reliable growth and thus present opportunities for us to grow along with them. Of course, these types of customers are not a ‘fixed number’ they are always coming to our attention and we are regularly pursuing them.

Are we trying to diversify our book of business this year?

Yes – and our efforts to diversify are integral to our commercial plan.

Diversification achieves two objectives: We reduce risk by not being excessively reliant on a single customer or industry. Secondly, diversification supports our aggressive growth expectations by introducing new sales avenues. Let us remember, there are two means by which we seek diversification: by industry and geography. Each reduces risk and creates opportunity.

Is there a specific market segment we are going to try to break into or focus sales efforts on?

I think there are a couple markets that intrigue us heading into ’17.

No doubt, infrastructure projects have been widely discussed since the election. Bridges, tunnels, roads, hospitals, schools and airports across the U.S. have deficient maintenance and nearly all these projects create business for our building products, transportation, HVAC and general fabrication customers. The solar energy market seems particularly buoyant at this time and is increasingly populated by good roll-forming fabrication companies who produce the structural components for solar collectors. Also in the energy sector, it seems oil country tubular goods are poised to take off as the U.S. energy sector prepares for oil and gas exploration following three relatively dormant years. The energy sector consumes nearly as much flat-rolled steel as the auto sector in a decent or good year. We think there are ways we can benefit from increased down-hole activity other than traditional casing tubular products, such as storage tanks, heavy equipment, and transportation products. Like ’16, we are enthusiastic about the steady growth in building products.

We are in the process of trying to find new quality mill sources in countries not affected by the current trade cases. However, the lead times make this a long process. A high percentage of imports come from emerging market countries with mills that are brand new. The quality is often not up to the same standards we have here in the U.S.

Rob Vella

How have our production capabilities grown in 2016?

One of our biggest growth opportunities was the acquisition of the Anderson facility. We purchased and installed a new 48” slitter for painted material. We also moved 6,000 tons of painted product from Jeffersonville to Anderson. We purchased and installed a new packaging line there as well. We purchased and installed a new 60,000 pound Recoiler for the 76” slitter in Melvindale. We acquired and installed a 36” slitter in Jeffersonville. We upgraded the 71” slitter in Jeffersonville by digging a pit and adding the ability to run material in loop mode, which allows us to run more material across the line. Jeffersonville increased volume by 51%.

We moved the entire SSP Louisville operation to Jeffersonville, IN. We completed the move without shutting down or missing any customer shipments. SSP added a much needed product line and started producing USG propriety shaftwall in both Jeffersonville and Birmingham.

Great job to all operational teams this year as we have helped to equip Mill Steel for future growth!

Are there any more development projects slated for this upcoming year?

We have many capital projects planned for 2017. Two major investments scheduled are a new payoff for the 72” slitter in Grand Rapids, and a new down-ender for the Birmingham packaging line. This will help automate the process, making our Birmingham operation safer, and more efficient.

What are our safety initiatives for this year?

Our goal is to have zero “loss time accidents”. We want everyone to go home safely. We are very focused on minimizing injures, no matter how big or small. Our plan is to continue with our “Think. Plan. Act.” safety program. Other safety initiatives include, but are not limited to: • We added a family board to each of the plants. The board is titled, “This is Why I Work Safely,” and includes pictures of associates with their family members. It is a friendly reminder to everyone that we all have someone who is counting on us to come home safely each day.

Joe Poot

How will the new President affect the steel market?

President Trump is obviously very pro-business and his cabinet choices have been very pro-business as well. Over the last couple of years, there have been numerous trade cases attempting to restrict the flow of foreign steel into the U.S. While no one knows exactly what President Trump will do, most everyone believes he will continue to make it more difficult for steel to be imported into our country. While this has allowed the domestic mills to successfully increase the prices of steel, this comes with risk; if the premium for domestic steel becomes too high, it will hurt our manufacturing base. If there is no action to include finished products within the trade cases, this could pose risk of more finished products being imported.

How do you foresee this impacting Mill Steel directly?

These types of changes typically mean unpredictable swings in steel pricing, both up and down. This makes our inventory control and forecasting accuracy more important than ever. The trade cases have also disrupted a lot of long-standing, quality import relationships that all of us in the service center industry have relied on.

• Recertifying the trained first responders.

• Updating our safety program with lessons learned training.

• A new training portal to store all of our training records digitally.

• We plan to share all of our “near misses” corporately. A “near miss” is a safety incident that occurred in a facility.

• We plan to have all supervisors undergo training as Certified Six Sigma Green Belts. The certification teaches people to be directly responsible for projects within their organization. This training will give our plant managers and supervisors additional knowledge to improve our safety, quality, and productivity.

• We are working with the operations team on lean manufacturing training, which will improve our safety, quality and productivity.

Article By: Amanda Allspach

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Associate Highlight Jim Kozlowski, Account Manager What is your personal motto and why?

My personal motto is to live in the moment. As a salesperson, it is very easy to let your mind wander and start thinking about something you need to do in the future, or the next sale you need to make. I try to live my life and be actively involved in whatever I am doing at that current time.

Jim and his wife, Rachel, on the beaches of San Sebastian, Spain last year for their tenyear anniversary.

What is your role here at Mill Steel?

My role is Account Manager for Mill Steel Building Products and I cover the midwest region.

What do you like best about your job?

The best part of my job is the customers. I enjoy spending time with people, getting to know them, and learning what is best for their company.

What is your least favorite part?

I have two least favorite parts; call reports (sorry, managementv) and claims. It is really hard to pick one over the other.

If you could spend a day with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

I would spend it with John F. Kennedy.

I don’t normally like to bring up politics, but I am fascinated with JFK and what he tried to do. I really think that our country and our lives would be very different had he not been assassinated.

Jim and Rachel at Wrigley Field, home of the 2016 World Series Champions, the Chicago Cubs!

(Left) Jim and Rachel at a wedding in Vail, Co. (Right) Jim with his nephew, Thomas, on Halloween.

Where are you from and who makes up your family?

I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area, and I now currently reside in the city. My family includes my loving wife Rachel. We don’t have any kids yet, but we look forward to it in the future.

Tell us a little known fact about you.

I am a runner, even though it may not look like it. I ran my first marathon a few years ago on a 90-degree day in Chicago. It took a few years to recover, but I plan to run the marathon again this year.

Article by: Amanda Massar

Health & Wealth Corner

Finance and Insurance Tips from Mill Steel's very own Money Mentors If you signed up for the HSA Insurance Plan, please make sure to sign in to your account online at www.myhsabankaccount.com, per the instructions that were emailed. If you did not receive the email, the instructions are also located on the Millnet (HR>Policies>Health Insurance). The $240 employer contribution was made in mid-January and your authorized payroll deductions have started.

Wellness program: Healthy Directions Wellness program forms for 2017 will be sent out by the end of January. Please make sure to have your physicals and paperwork turned in by the July 31, 2017 deadline. We had over a 90% completion rate for 2016….GREAT JOB!!! The number one reason reported in 2016 for not turning in a timely form was the inability to schedule a physical. That being said, please make the call to get your physical scheduled as soon as possible. A number of serious health risks were identified in last year's physcials, and helped Mill Steel become a healthier company as a whole.

Article By: Mark Thaler

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

5th Annual Chili Cook-Off! Our annual chili cook-off will be held in Grand Rapids on Monday, February 13th! There will be prizes awarded to the top 3 chefs! If you intend on bringing chili, please email recoiler@millsteel.com so that we can plan accordingly for bowls and silverware.

Submissions must be in the upstairs conference room by 10 AM. Taste testing / voting will take place from 11 AM - 12 PM. Good Luck!

Article by: Kaley Shaheen

Welcome Baby Heglund!

Please join us in congratulating Pam & Jake Heglund on the birth of their sweet baby boy, Finn Daniel Heglund!

He arrived Saturday, January 28th at a healthy weight of 7 lbs 2 oz and 20.5" long. Both Pam and Finn are home and doing great!

L et’s C e lebrate

February Anniversaries David McCoun Joshua Johnson Zachary Burns Brian Rothley Thomas Webb II Nena Evans Nathan Simpson Radwan Gelan Ernie Jr. Jackson Justin Mausolf Stonie Phillips Keith Dalton Doug Cooper Dustin Lindsey Chris Vanderpool Abdulbadia Omar Jerry Gray Ronald Williford Brian Gordon Layne Jefferson Sara Zimmer Mark Vandekieft Larry Tiffany Michael Jubenville Amanda Allspach Tony Bonacquisti Kevin Kennedy

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 5 6 6 7 7

Stephen Breaseale Jason Miller Ed Ford Troy Mossel Dzuri Veliu

11 13 16 17 18

10 or more!

Birthdays

Megan Donovan LeShane Wilkins Jason Figueroa Brian Barker Johnny Pace Mark Lorence Michael Blackford Jr Brett Cobb Cody Pendygraft Jeff Goode Meghan Hendrick Stonie Phillips Radwan Gelan Ekoue Aboussa Tyler Davidson Davidson Tyler Sam Wilkening James Napier Heidi Bastin Michael Bodner Detrick Williams Saw Victor John Kristiana Hagyard Dale Umlor

2/1 2/1 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/5 2/7 2/9 2/12 2/13 2/17 2/18 2/20 2/20 2/21 2/21 2/22 2/22 2/24 2/26 2/26 2/26 2/27 2/28

Building Products Team Bonding

Mill Steel Building Products group participated in some fun team building activities on January 4th. The group worked together on some unconventional tasks to build communication and trust. All involved had a great time!

“The term ‘personal space’ took on a whole new meaning that day! The skills we learned will help take our Mill Steel Building Products team to the next level as we continue to grow, and I look forward to what’s in store ahead.."

- Shannon Monday, Inside Sales Manager “I seriously think Brian Vella missed his calling as a motivational speaker; his positivity helped push our team’s communication and trust to the next level throughout the day’s activities. It was a lot of fun!”

- Larry Tiffany, Inside Account Manager

Name: Katelin Frazier Location & Department: Grand Rapids / Supply Chain Intern

our Mill These individuals are recent additions to them to ng Steel family. Please join us in welcomi the team! les by: Kaley Shaheen Artic

Name: Cody Young Location & Department: Jeffersonville / Packaging Cody recently began working for Mill Steel on the packaging line. His family consists of his mom, his sister Alecia, and his nephew Wyatt. He has two cats and two dogs that are nearing 15-years-old! Outside of work, he enjoys spending time working on his car. Cody’s favorite meal is steak and rice!

Name: Chris Lane Location & Department: Jeffersonville / 78” Slitter Chris is the proud father to a wonderful son. His main interests are music and work. A few interesting facts about Chris are that he is a hip-hop artist, a Call of Duty fanatic, and he eats more than most because he loves food!

Name: Josh King Location & Department: Jeffersonville / Packaging Josh loves spending time with his outgoing family and his black lab named Nala. In his free time, Josh likes to race cars, hunt, drive ATV’s, and he enjoys listening to country music. Josh’s favorite food is chili, because it’s great all year round. An interesting fact about Josh is that he is a certified welder!

Name: Stephen Foley Location & Department: Jeffersonville / Packaging Stephen began working second shift in November. He is a certified diesel mechanic and spends much of his free time working and learning about high performance diesel trucks. A random fact about Stephen is that his favorite food is pizza, because he claims it’s amazing with hot sauce!

Katelin is a sophomore at Grand Valley State University, majoring in Supply Chain Management and minoring in International Business. She loves to travel and has been to seven foreign countries, most recently France! Katelin has two giant golden retrievers at home and a cat named Pepper. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and going to the beach up north in the summer.

Name: Cody McMillen Location & Department: Jeffersonville / 78” Slitter Cody is engaged to his beautiful fiancé, Danielle, who is pregnant with their first son! He is also the proud father to his two-year-old daughter and the owner of three dogs. Cody’s hobbies include basketball, football, yard sales, and home maintenance.

Name: Vincent Butler Location & Department: Jeffersonville / Packaging Vincent is the proud father of three children. His oldest is in college at K-State, while the other two are still in high school. He is a hard worker and is very friendly towards others. Vincent loves to cook, cut hair, and spend time with his family.

Name: Coty Dever Location & Department: Jeffersonville / 2nd ShiftSupervisor Coty is married to his wife, and they have a son on the way! In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, weight lifting, hunting, and fishing. Two random facts about Coty are that he has a beard and his favorite meal is lasagna.

M i l l S t e e l R e co g n i t i o n P r o g ra m Congratulations to our Q1 2017 standout performers!

Kenneth Eaglin (Chief) is committed to helping our team get better each and every day. Chief volunteers to help wherever needed. Whether he’s working off-shifts, weekends, or overtime; Chief is always right there willing to lend a hand. Chief communicates very well; he takes the time to follow up with operators to explain things and help coach our team. His positive outlook and team-first attitude demonstrates Mill Steel’s core values.

Chief, you are the ultimate team player and we thank you for your continued hard work and dedication!

- Mike Pavuk, Jeffersonville Plant Manager

Kenneth Eaglin

Anthony Looney is a team player with good leadership skills. He is one of the best when it comes to slitting painted product, and is a key player in taking the team to the next level. He always steps up to train new associates and helps them understand different defects in painted steel. Anthony will do whatever it takes to get the job done, and get it done right the first time.

- Kevin Farley, Birmingham Plant Manager

Anthony Looney

Marcus Boles demonstrates great leadership and pushes everyone on our team to be their very best. He is a dependable and wonderful asset to our team. Marcus continues to advance his career and I admire his strong work ethic. We are grateful to have Marcus as part of our growing team!

- Jason Meads, Birmingham Plant Manager, SSP

Marcus Boles

Todd Jones demonstrates his expertise and broad knowledge on a daily basis, and is instrumental to our success. In addition, Todd has recently taken the opportunity to broaden his scope and develop his knowledge on the Mill Steel production lines.

Todd is an asset to the entire team in Jeffersonville through his hard work and dedication.

-Dave Dziuban, Jeffersonville Plant Manager, SSP

Todd Jones

Weight Loss Results 2016-2017 Thank you to everyone who participated in the Holiday Weight Loss Challenge. The GVHP Health WORKS team congratulates you and wishes everyone well on their continued journey to good health. Our group lost a total of 140.6 lbs with an average weight loss of 2.86 lbs!

Male & Female Top 3 for % Weight Loss: MALE DIVISION 1st place: Mark Thaler 2nd place: Mitchell Ganzon 3rd place: Brandon Steward

FEMALE DIVISION 1st place: Theresa Rigoni 2nd place: Sharon Warner 3rd place: Kaley Shaheen

Lost or maintained weight (Honorable Mention): Aaron Lincoln, Andy Knaus, Jeff Verduin, Larry Tiffany, Nick Gagnon, Paul Dooge, Spencer Perry, Tyler Uhazie, Zach Lee, Amanda Allspach, Amanda M., Chelsea Workman, Debby Schaefer, Hannah Kendzicky, Heather Hammond, Kelly Steele, Kristi Hagyard, Kristin Cole, Kristina Juresic, Marie Cole, Marie Peterson, Megan Donovan, Molly Steele, Samantha Darrow, Sara Zimmer, Shannon Monday, Shelby Mitchell, Sherry Poll, Tammy Root, Taylor Keefer.

Article By: Tammy Root