Tenaris is looking back on 25 years in Sault Ste. Marie through the voices of the people who played a key role in reviving the pipe mill.
A new video highlights the stories of employees who witnessed the industrial centre transformation — from an idle factory in the late 1990s to Canada’s only seamless-pipe manufacturing operation, now with both seamless and electric resistance welded pipe manufacturing under one roof. Their memories show how Tenaris’s growth has mirrored the city’s strength and resilience.
The turnaround started when Tenaris brought in a new team of employees to restart operation after years of inactivity.
“Before we got there, the place sat idle for two years,” Millwright Kevin Smith said. “Everything was shut off. It was dirty, it was dusty. But there were 90 of us, the startup team, and we got this place going in six weeks.”
Since then, both Tenaris and Sault Ste. Marie has been part of an economic jumpstart, Dave Van Boerdonk, Environment Regional Manager, said.
“Creating so many jobs after the shuttering of the mill in the late ’90s has been a real boost to the city,” he said.
Now, employees ‘reflections — captured in the video below — show what 25 years of commitment in the community looks like, with 800 employees in Sault Ste. Marie.
“Don’t blink,” Heavy Lift Operator Chris Malinowski said. “Twenty-five years goes by quick.”
Watch the video here: