When you hear the word "STEEL", you may think this word refers to a single type of metal. But actually, according to the World Steel Association, there are at least 3,500 different types (or grades) of steel. Also, did you know at least three-quarters of the products we know of as "steel" today have only been in existence for about two decades? Each generation of steel gets lighter and stronger than its predecessors, and advancements continue to be made daily. In this guest blog post, learn five fascinating facts you never knew about steel. By learning more about steel, you can better appreciate how this valuable alloy has contributed to our life today!

Number XXVII of our ‘Meet the Team’ leadership spotlights. Today, I got the opportunity to interview Tom McCadden. Tom is the Account Manager of the Plainville branch and has been with the organization for 27 years. On Facebook we run an album called “Faces & Places of AH Harris” and we also feature snapshots of our crew on Instagram. But we want to give some insights into who our company leaders are, what their background is and include some ‘personal touch’ that goes beyond what you would find on LinkedIn. Let’s hear it from Tom!

Number XXVI of our ‘Meet the Team’ leadership spotlights. Today, I got the opportunity to interview Bob Tetrault. Bob is the Credit Manager of the Plainville branch and has been with the organization for over 8 years. On Facebook we run an album called “Faces & Places of AH Harris” and we also feature snapshots of our crew on Instagram. But we want to give some insights into who our company leaders are, what their background is and include some ‘personal touch’ that goes beyond what you would find on LinkedIn. Let’s hear it from Bob!

Episode XXI of our ‘Meet the Team’ leadership spotlights. Today, I got the opportunity to interview Lou Viscarrondo, nominated by Matt Finkle. Lou is the Operations Manager for the Westfield Forming Yard. On Facebook we run an album called “Faces & Places of AH Harris” and we also feature snapshots of our crew on Instagram. But we want to give some insights into who our company leaders are, what their background is and include some ‘personal touch’ that goes beyond what you would find on LinkedIn. Let’s hear it from Lou!

Being a part of a project, big or small, is always exciting for the A. H. Harris team. This year, we are thrilled to be involved with the construction of the new Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford, CT home of the Yard Goats. The Yard Goats name is ironically not named after the animal, but is it actually in tribute to the nickname of a Railroad Engine originally used on site in the early 1900’s. The job for this project was awarded to Centerplan Contractors of Middletown, CT in February 2015. The original job cost of this development was $56 million, part of a proposed $350 million Hartford Urban Development Plan. This past March, Harris’ Sales Account Manager at our Newington facility, Jay Pellegren, sat down with Centerplan superintendent Guy Murphy and President Dan Rossi to discuss our forming capabilities and materials. Forming and shoring specialist Rob LeClerc, had already completed a pre-bid proposal on the job and was prepared to discuss a possible rental of our signature forming solution and clamp system Harris 1500. On February 23, Russ Tooker, of the Harris Albany facility was accompanied by Branch Managers John Morin from Newington and Rob Cicero from New Haven to arrange a demo of Harris 1500 (our Harris 1500 demo trailer [http://bit.ly/1I4ZFBL] visits contractors and jobsites all across the East Coast). To our pleasure, they were impressed. A.H. Harris was able to secure the initial PO for the stadium formwork in April 2015. In May 2015, Dunkin’ Donuts purchased the naming rights to the stadium, making the official name, “Dunkin Donuts Park: Home of the Hartford Yard Goats”. This project will provide 18,000 temporary jobs for construction and development along with 1,000 permanent jobs at the venue. The stadium will have 18 luxury boxes and 6,000 general admissions seats. Harris materials for the project will go towards the forming of the interior and exterior walls of the stadium, as well as the dugout and scoreboard. In addition to the forming and shoring rentals, A.H. Harris is also supplying:

After years of covering the Rhode Island market through our Medfield, MA (now Plainville, MA) location, A.H. Harris Construction Supplies opened its Rhode Island Branch in February of 1995 on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick, RI. Twenty years and two location changes later, we have gone from a modest 4,000 SF building to our current 17,000 SF store and warehouse at 30 Freeway Drive in Cranston where we have been serving our customers from since 2008.

AH Harris Massena purchased the existing building at 30 Hill Street in Massena, NY, from Germanetti & Ryan Construction in September 2000. With only 3 employees, an old international flatbed truck and a small pickup truck, we soon became a force to be reckoned with for top quality construction supplies & accessories in the Northern New York area! Click map below to see our neighborhood.

At the southern tip of Connecticut and the doorstep of New York metro lies our Harris Stamford store. We moved from an 8000sf warehouse to a 10,000sf facility in 2004 to accommodate for the increase in construction activity and building supplies demand in the area. We built a new showroom in 2014 and increased our warehouse capacity by an additional 150 pallets. We are conveniently located at 226 Selleck Street, only 2 blocks away from I-95 at exit 6. We cover Fairfield, CT, Westchester County and Putnam County. Our team offers custom and quick turnaround for rebar fabricating up to about 10 tons. Larger orders are handled through our sister company ‘HarMac Rebar & Steel’ which has 2 plants nearby in Sayreville New Jersey and Fryeburg Maine.

Episode XII of our Leadership series. We want you to get to know our team. On Facebook we run an album called “Faces & Places of AH Harris” and we also feature snapshots of our employees and job sites on our Instagram account. But we want to give some insights into who our company leaders are, too! We share what their background is and include some ‘personal touch’ beyond the corporate resumes you find on LinkedIn.

by Pat Maillett, HarMac Rebar and Steel, Executive Vice President (article first published in AH Harris Newsletter "Concrete Evidence" in November 2014).