“It gives us the opportunity to really develop what we believe will be a more collaborative and a better environment for our administrative staff to work,” said Neil Cohen, the company’s treasurer. “We would like to be able to move before the end of the year, but we’re going to go through a process and I’m not sure we’re going to be able to do that by then, but that’s our goal.”
The company and the board closed on the sale last week, Cohen said but declined to share the sale price, which was not yet available Friday via public records the Butler County Auditor’s Office.
“It was a public sale … and there was only one bidder, which was us,” Cohen said.
The fourth generation family-run business recycles metal including copper, brass, aluminum and steel, as well as automobiles.
Cohen operates 18 locations throughout the area, as well as other locations in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
The company has been in its current corporate/administrative office since the 1970s and has expanded four times since then, Cohen said.
It had discussed various options over the past year — including replacing the existing building or building a second floor — but ultimately opted to buy a building with more room just half a mile away.
“We’ve reached the point where we just can’t add on anymore,” Cohen said. “When we became aware that this property was available, it’s right in our footprint in Middletown and closely located to where our yard is today and other properties. It seemed like a logical fit.”
The move, which will affect between 30 and 40 employees, won’t immediately mean a staff increase, he said.
“It’s not our intention to grow the number of people immediately, but I think it’s safe to say that we believe that we have a bright future that will require more people and we realize, for sure, that if we’re looking for anybody in addition to who we have, we don’t have any place to put them,” Cohen said.
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