Above: Founder and Chairman Jim Barnett and President and CEO Mike Barnett have been developing Grand Steel Products in terms of reach and capabilities.
August, 2025- Jim Barnett founded Grand Steel Co. in 1995 after working in the industry with his brother. His son, Mike Barnett, joined in 2006 as the third employee. Mike had a college degree and came into the business after three years in the financial services industry.
In 2008, he recalls, Grand Steel purchased its first bricks-and-mortar building in Wixom, Michigan (about 34 miles northwest of Detroit). At that time, the total headcount was six. In 2011, the company installed a 72-inch-wide slitter, mainly to accommodate coil inspections. In 2014, Grand Steel added on a 10,000-square-foot facility and installed offices. That same year, the company bought two trucks and created Grand Transport.
As time passed, the company added capabilities and resources for customers. In 2017, it purchased a Detroit-based steel testing laboratory. Steel Testing Lab is now a separate company—an accredited lab that performs steel mechanical, hardness, chemistry and coating testing for service centers, coaters, end users and others.
In 2019, the company made a big bet and doubled its facility size to 80,000 square feet, added a 36-inch-wide slitting line; an interchangeable slitting head system for the existing 72-inch line; and a new packaging line.
“We were about 80 percent of the way through this very substantial addition and investment when COVID hit. We were down for a while but recovered,” Barnett says.
In 2021, the company entered the South when it purchased a service center in Clinton, Tennessee. Grand Steel saw value in the facility due to its location and existing workforce, which remained in place. Seeing the possibilities in the region, Grand decided to use these assets to launch into toll processing.
The company has slitters from 24 inches through 72 inches wide.
In Clinton, we rehabilitated the plant and started to develop trust with the workforcefolding them into our work family. At the end of 2023, we also bought the building next door and now we have two plants there,” Barnett says.
In autumn 2024, Grand Steel purchased the assets of a service center on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. The 130,000-square foot facility has two 72-inch-wide slitting lines, a precision multi-blanking line and nine trucks. The Chattanooga location differentiates itself with the ability to not only receive rail shipments but also barge via a 40-ton crane over the river.
“It’s a great market,” says Barnett. “We saw opportunity to continue our growth in the South and continue the successful strategy we deployed in Clinton.”
The Chattanooga location can use barges to receive and ship steel.
TOLLING
“Our identity as only a direct sales organization was changing. Because of our reputation and avoidance of any large automotive business, we were a trusted resource for many toll processing customers. We are doing processing, logistics and run storage programs for mills, large end users and service centers.”
Barnett says he is “very proud of the teams and what they have accomplished. We saw a degree of corporate dysfunction and were able to get buy-in from our employee base by changing the culture and working hard to get a good level of work rolling through. These facilities have come on very strong and we still have lots of runway to grow further.”
In Wixom, Grand Steel runs two slitters, 36-inch and 72-inch wide, and five trucks. In Clinton, the company runs a 24-inch-wide and 60-inch-wide slitter.
Grand Steel has used assets in the South to create new business by offering toll processing, logistics and supply chain management.
CUSTOMER BASE
While Grand Steel sells into the automotive sector, by design, it does not participate in any large-production automotive contracts. Instead, Grand Steel’s direct-sales unit serves manufacturers in a wide range of industries throughout the Midwest and South.
“One of the keys to our business is the diversity of customer base we serve on the direct sales and toll processing side. The goal is not to be beholden to one industry or revenue stream,” according to Barnett.
VOLUMES
In Clinton, Grand Steel is toll processing over 6,000 tons per month and offers transloading, JIT deliveries and inventory storage services. “We consider ourselves a supply chain partner for steel and other critical supply chain components just so that our customers can get them quickly.” In Chattanooga, the toll processing volume exceeds12,000 tons per month with more on the way.
“Our steel mill customers appreciate the inbound multimodal opportunities our plants offer, including a significant logistics cost savings when barges are used. We want to provide value in the supply chain as an extension of our customers and their commitments to their customers to get quality products on time,” Barnett says.
Grand Steel is growing its strength in logistics. “We have a big piece of business coming during August. We currently manage 25 to 30 loads per day, and are expecting this to grow that to 45 loads per day.” He says that consists of daily deliveries to end users on behalf of mills and service centers.
LEGACY
“We grew up fast in the last five years. Yet we continue to maintain the values and smallbusiness grit that has guided our success through the years,” Barnett remarks. “Twenty years ago, I still remember my Dad telling me the first two keys to success in the steel business were to pay your bills on time and hold yourself and the company to a high moral standard. We have maintained these two tenets, and it seems to be working.”
Barnett says the evolution of Grand Steel has “been quite the ride.” At 79, Mike’s father, Jim, is still involved in the business and is a valued resource with more than 60 years of industry knowledge. “I am lucky to still be working with my father. He loves this business, loves the growth that we have had and still brings a lot to the table.”
Looking ahead, “we are developing the organization toward growth, recognizing our need for additional talent, and working to accommodate the growth we have so far. We conceded that what worked for us 10 years ago doesn’t always look the same or work now with the changes. All parts of the organization must grow along with our acquisitions. It doesn’t come naturally,” Barnett says.
He is focused on organizational development all the way up to the leadership level “to help with directing traffic, making decisions and solving problems. I want to accommodate our growth by promoting leaders from within, along with strategic outside hires. Developing our workforce is so important.”
In the next five years, Grand Steel expects to increase its processing capability further. Meanwhile, he says, “as we invest in operational assets, we are fixing things the right way. There is probably a brand new line in our future.”
In sum, “we are proud. We are happy to tackle the things that must be addressed. It’s sometimes messy but we have grit and relentless determination,” Barnett says. “We are a good partner and we have great relationships in the industry. We remain consistent and true to our focus.”
Grand Steel Products Inc., 248/960-9200, grandsteel.net.
