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Page 6, Thursday, January 27th, 1972, WHITBY FREE P RESS The Hopkins Centre Inhabitants - HEFFERNAN & CO-STEEL INTERNATIONAL - by Kim Armitage Company President pioneered North American mini-steel G.R. HEFFERNAN plant concept Co-Steel International was one of the first tenants - the pioneer tenants - in the Hopkins Centre last August, when W h i t b y 1 s new mul ti-tenant industrial mall1was nearing completion. P i on e e r ing is a trade mark of the company 's president Gerald R. Hef- f e r n an , who pioneered the mini steel p I a n t concept in North America in the 1950's and made it work - magnificently. T h a t development took the complacent w i nd out of the mouldering sails of the steel industry. Co-Steel International holds control- ling interests in Lake Ontario Steel Co. Ltd. Whitby and it's whollv owned sub- sidiary Industrial Metal of Canada Co. L t d. , Toronto, Sheerness Steel Co.- m i nority interests in North Star Steel Co. Ltd. , St. Paul, Minnesota, and Ferrco Engineering Ltd. , Whitby. Entrepreneur, catalyst with a way of casting for success, Heffernan is infin- itelyfriendlier and more charming than one s h o u Id expect a 'steel man' of his stature to be. His achievements he t r e ats with a casualness that makes it ail seem so easy. He's of medium height, athletically slim, with dark hair well- greyed and fuiI at the sideburns. He has d e ep set eyes that miss nothing, and a d a r k m o u s tache which adds a hint of rakishnessto his appearance. A West- erner by birth (Edmonton, AIberta 1919), agraduate of the University of Toronto withhis Bachelor of Science in Metall- 1 urgy f rom the University of British Columbia. In 1946 he entered the steel JAKE & BILL AUTO MECHANICS SMALL CAR SPECIALISTS MERCEDES -BENZ VOLVO PEUGEOT FIAT Taunton Rd. East at Wilson 723-3041 Oshawa JOHN AM La UL . Gosolie . C 0ee . 01i. £ Grtes*Fnc s.i.. a s.vl. Clarence Roper John Maclean 668-4462 579-0151 TAUNTON ROAD Just East of RItsOn Rd. i n d u s t ry by way of the Westland Iron and Steel Foundries Ltd. , Vancouver as me.tallurgist and Assistant General Manager. "That meant engineering and produc- tion, " says Heffernan. "And in a small organization like that, one gets a great deal ofexperience inevery department.1" In I 9 4 8 he j oi ned Western Canada Steel Ltd. , Vancouver, as their super- intendant and he later became their Gen- erai Superintendant. The "magnificent presentation" It w a s h e re that he recognized the potential indeveloping an area in North- ern Aiber ta. To Heffernan it looked promising and worth investigating. From the information he gathered and his own enthusiasm, he worked out a "magnifi- cent presentation" for the Alberta pro- j e c t, positive his company could only agree. "They turned it down cold, " chuckl es H e f f e r n a n. "I was so frustrated, so m a d > a b s ol ute.ly convinced they were completely stupid. I took all my woes to an old friend. He listened until l'd fin- i shed blowing off steam then said, "Is this Alberta thing any good? " "Certainly itis!", Isaid. "It'satremendousoppor- t u n i t y ! ". Then my friend said. "Why don't you do it yourself?I" First mini-steel plant He stopped me flat. Al I could say was 'No money. ' That wasn't good enough for him. Between the two of us and our contacts in London and Canada, we put t o g e t h e r t he financing and went into northern Alberta with a small but great team. We set up the firsttministeel plant in NorthArnerica with a continuous casting unit utili i zing the common garden variety of scrap metal. That was Pre- m ier Steel1 Mills. Eventually it was WEEK END SPECIALS J Froml 00 We 24 401 pay the GAS Hour Service King St. West, Oshawa. r28-4641 [et us ho your MOST Open Evenings - Tuesday and Thursday IVAN'S (Ladies) HAIRSTYLING 1400 DUNDAS ST. E. - WHITBY "If you want to look your best" Whitby (416))668-4321 Scarborough (416) 439-0241 WATCHMAKER Antique & Modern Watch Repairs. (all work guaranteed) 25 years experience - Jewel Box The Whitby Mall Dundas E. & Thickson Rd. bought out by the Steel Company of Can- a d a. A f t e r t he sell out, the.original financ ial group asked me to look for other possibilities anywhere in the world. We were looking for other sites for mini- steel plants. We finally settled on the Minneapolis St. Paul site. It happened to be during the Cuban crisis and everything slumped so we shelved it temporarily. lt was the n th a t we returned to our earlier findings that indicated a great need for a m i n i - s teel plant here in the Whitby a r e a. That's when Lake Ontario came into being. Seven months after we broke g r o un d t he first strand casting came through in 1964. " He pauses, obviously proud of the achievement. Not only in the c a s e of LASCO but in all other of his undertakings, Heffernan constantly re- fers to and cred its the team work of those associatedwith the undertakings. LASCO "Right from the star t LASCO depen- ded completely on continuous casting. We felt that was the- only way. No other methods to use as a crutch. And they've never looked back. We've had a tremen- d o u s team through the years. In fact, many of them are still with Ferrco and LASCO here, and with North Star in Minneapolis, St. Paul, have worked on and are stili working on Sheerness." Sheerness Sheerne ss on the Isle of Sheppy, Kent England, is* the newest, most ad- vancedmini-steel plant utilizing contin- uous casting in the world, and is set for completion in the spring of 1972 - three months ahead of schedule. Historical site The site is an old naval base dating back from the 1600's and at one time was Nelson's naval base. "We've taken over the pl ay ing fiel ds and the hospi tal for the plant," exp I a i ns Heffernan. "Every- t h i n g '1s g o n e extremely well. We've p i o n e e r e d a lotof new construction techniques - whole portions of buildings and heavy equipment have been shipped over on board five chartered ships from H amilton here. We've had a very good labour experience there with no juris- dictional disputes at all. " He chuckles, "It's about the only place I know of where t h e t radesmen &carpenters, came ta work in white shirt, tie, vest and suit. " Continued on Page. 7 THE FRIENDLY "We're young, but FLEA MARKET growing fast. " we .23 PRINCE ST. b uy and seli any- OSHAWA thing. 725-9783 ATTENTION! SENIOR CITIZENS An Order of Fish & Chips at TED'S FISH & CHIPS "because we care" 111 Byron St. S. 668-3611 ACE ELECTRONICS TV & RADIO REPAIRS Cash & Carry Service IN BY 9 - OUT BY 6 227 BROCK SI. S. 668-6261 WIJY ,ý 1 1 ý - Il- , 1 1 , 'l > - ', 1, < 1 . - M