Firm finds a niche serving demand in growth regions
A new steel fabrication company in Price is quietly growing and looking for new workers amid an atmosphere of shuttered businesses and decreasing employment opportunities.
Intermark Steel has been in business for a little more than a year at 392 East 400 South. The company has outgrown that location and is in the process of moving to a larger facility in the Industrial Park south of Price.
Intermark Steel President Matt Blaser said after deciding to start a steel fabrication business, he discovered a good opportunity in Carbon County and purchased the former Trans America Steel and Concrete facility.
Blaser said it’s important to note that one of the main drivers in helping to get his business started here was Pro Carbon Development. He said when they found out he was interested in buying the company and starting a fabrication business here, they got their board together and quickly offered their support. “Their support is largely the reason that we started here and the reason that we’re doing well today.” He acknowledged Pro Carbon provided loans “in a substantial amount.”
“You have to give them credit,” he continued, “because they had exceptional foresight in that this business is not dependent on the local economy. What we’re doing is, we’re taking advantage of the boom that exists on the other side of the mountain, but we’re using resources located here.”
Pro Carbon Board President Tom Patterick said, “We feel very comfortable with what Matt is doing. We’re backing him one hundred percent. He’s pumped a lot of money into Carbon County in salaries.”
Blaser also recognized that county government has been very supportive, “and are helping us put together a deal that will continue our growth.”
The company has been awarded $4 million dollars in contracts through 2019. “We’re getting involved in some of the largest commercial products going on in Salt Lake City,” he said, “namely the Salt Lake Airport expansion, which is a multi-billion dollar project, and will occur in phases over the next several years. We already have a contract on that job that will take us through 2019.”
A former general contractor, Blaser said, “When I propose a project, I speak their language and that’s what has given us a unique opportunity to win these contracts.” He is currently working to secure contracts for other projects in the Salt Lake area, including the Amazon Distribution Center and the Prison Relocation Project. “You can imagine in a prison, there’s a lot of steel,” he quipped.
Blaser is optimistic about further expansion. He said, “We’re growing and need the best fabricators, the best talent available in Carbon County.” The company now has twelve employees and will likely need that many more within the next month.
Blaser has high praise for the local workforce. He declared, “What Carbon County has that the Wasatch Front does not have is, I call it ‘grit.’ A lot of our workers, they’re tough, gritty people who do not shy away from hard work. And I think that’s just part of the heritage of this area.”