Local Heroes

March/April 1992 

Scrap processors and recyclers have developed a tradition of community involvement that continues to grow as the industry assumes a higher profile.

BY KENT KISER

Kent Kiser is associate editor of Scrap Processing and Recycling.

The scrap industry has always planted its roots deep in community soil. Decades of doing business in the same area has enabled many recycling companies to make community involvement a proud tradition, a give-and-take relationship that has helped each community and company prosper. Looking beyond the customary participation in chambers of commerce and contributions to the United Way, scrap firms have sponsored, assisted, founded, and raised money for myriad causes and organizations. And as the times—and the recycling industry—change, scrap companies and individual executives are extending themselves even further into their communities and branching out into new areas of involvement.

No More Laying Low

Five years ago, Patriot Metals Co. maintained a "low profile" in its community, quietly going about its scrap business nestled between a wastewater treatment plant and a distribution facility in the Port of Providence, R.I.

All that changed in 1988. Faced with changing environmental and legislative times, the firm saw the need to take a more active role in the community and win the support and respect of the state's political and business leaders, as well as the public.

Jan Van Hemert, the company's general manager, issued a call to arms: If the company was to build a positive identity as a good corporate citizen and community supporter, it had to let the public know it existed and "become a force in the community that people could respect." In the beginning, the company considered hiring a public relations consultant to help it plan its involvement, "but we decided to apply our own common sense," Van Hemert says. As a first step, the company got involved in local public education, supporting a dropout-prevention center that gives approximately 110 students the chance to learn at their own speed and make up for lost school time. The firm's "substantial" financial contributions have enabled the center to purchase a computer system, offer field trips, and provide incentives to improve student attendance, notes Van Hemert, who serves as a vice president of the Providence Education Fund.

The company didn't stop there. In addition to expanding its involvement with local business groups such as the World Trade Center , the Propeller Club, and the Transportation Club, Patriot Metals has sponsored cultural events such as a special evening of ballet with Mikhail Baryshnikov's troupe at the Providence Performing Arts Center and holds a seat on the center's board. And for the last three years, the firm has participated in Providence 's annual Waterfront Festival, offering free harbor sightseeing tours for more than 2,000 people each year.

In a few short years, Patriot Metals has reaped many benefits from its involvement. "We feel good about it," Van Hemert says. "We're supporting worthwhile organizations and, at the same time, we've gained the recognition and appreciation of the community."

The Joy of Giving

The Brenner family might be called the epitome of a pillar in its community of Winston-Salem , N.C. The family, which operates Brenner Iron & Metal Co. and other businesses, provided seed money to create a children's hospital—now known as the Brenner Children's Hospital—within the North Carolina Baptist Hospital. Each year, the company, with the help of Ed Bradley, a former Pittsburgh Steeler and Brenner's inbound materials manager, raises money for the hospital by recruiting active and retired professional football players in the region to play a golf tournament. The event has raised more than $40,000 in the last three years, says President Mike Brenner.

The family has also been instrumental in helping build a Ronald McDonald House for terminally ill children in its area, as well as establishing the Brenner Center for Adolescent Medicine and the Blumenthal Jewish Home for the elderly. These and many other local activities prompted the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce to give the Brenner family its 1989 Community Service Award.

"The community has been very good to our family, and this is just our way of helping out the community with both our time and financial resources," Brenner says. "We don't do what we do to get our names in print. We feel like we have an obligation to participate in the community."

Harry Loef, the late founder of the Loef Co. Inc. (Athens, Ga.), was also an altruist in his community. With a reputation for always wanting to help others more than himself, he was known for sayings like, "You only get out of something what you put into it," says Frederick J. Loef, the company's executive vice president, who has continued in his father's footsteps. "I think that's something he passed on to my family and me, it's bred into us, and we certainly continue adding to the foundation that he started," Loef states. Following Harry's death, for example, the family established the Harry Loef Foundation, which has sponsored a golf tournament each year since 1984, raising more than $300,000 for organizations that assist youths, senior citizens, and the homeless. The foundation also holds an annual Small World Ball, which has generated $40,000 for the pediatric units of two local hospitals in just four years.

In addition, Sarah Loef, Harry's wife, continues to sponsor a Christmas party each year for the 1,600 members of the Boy's Club of Athens—one of Harry Loef's favorite organizations—and carries on in the 20-year tradition of providing Harry and Frederick J. Loef Scholarships to University of Georgia students.

The family has taken on other educational endeavors as well. In addition to building and donating the library building at the Athens Academy college preparatory school in honor of Harry Loef, Fred and Sharon Loef have established the Harry and Sarah Loef Forum, which brings noted Jewish speakers to Athens.

Loef also does hands-on volunteer work, such as assisting in the kitchens at local homeless shelters. "You get the feeling of really helping someone," he says. "It helps you when you feel that you're touching the hearts of others."  

The Denbo family is also well-known for its participation and generosity in its hometown of Decatur, Ala. "In the 15 years I've been in this business, I've always been involved in something," says Joel Denbo, vice president of Denbo Iron & Metal Co. Inc. "If there's a need and we can fulfill that need, we say, `Let's just do it.'" Last year, for example, Joel and his father Morley, president of the company, bought a salvage lot that contained 25 brand-new Airpak breathing machines. At first, they considered selling the units—after all, each one was worth approximately $2,500, Joel found. Instead, they decided it would be "more benevolent" to give the units—$70,000 worth of equipment—to their county's volunteer fire departments, which were using equipment that was "woefully inadequate," Joel says.

"There's a tremendous amount of personal gratification that we get out of doing these types of things," he remarks. "That's the motivator in and of itself."

Like many others in the scrap industry, the Denbos are also involved in many local religious and charitable groups. As Kiwanis Club members, both have participated in the club's annual Pancake Day for more than 15 years, helping raise money for the Sheriff's Mission ranches for boys and girls in their area. Last year, they sold $3,000 worth of tickets to the event—the third largest donation. And last September, Joel ventured into uncharted volunteer territory when he played the woodsman/father character in a children's theater production of "Hansel and Gretel." As proof of his commitment to the project, he even grew a beard for the part.

Politically Correct

Community involvement doesn't have to mean donations, fundraising, or work with charitable organizations. Many scrap firms have been extending their involvement into the political realm, seeing such "activism" as an extension of their concern for their family, company, community, and industry. Some companies provide campaign funds to industry-conscious candidates, while others opt to participate in a nonmonetary context on community government boards, councils, and committees. The president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) (Washington, D.C.), David Serls—also president of Colonial Metals Co. (Columbia, Pa.) and L. Lavetan and Sons Inc. (York, Pa.)—has been a strong proponent of such active political involvement, arguing that it is necessary to protect the scrap industry's future.

Rick Sternoff, executive vice president of Pacific Iron & Metal Co. (Seattle) and first vice president of ReMA's Pacific Northwest Chapter, has immersed himself in local and state politics since the mid-1980s when the municipal recycling movement caught fire.

Although many of the recycling issues Sternoff addresses have little direct impact on his firm's scrap business, "we feel that as a company it is our duty to lend our expertise in the area of recycling to other groups," he says.

One major benefit of political involvement is that "we've developed the ability for a two-way conversation between elected officials and our company," Sternoff says, adding proudly, "They call us when they have a recycling question." The main reward, however, is securing "appropriate legislation," he asserts.

Reviewing the Benefits

If ever the phrase "What goes around comes around" were true, it's in instances of community involvement. Scrap companies attest that sending out goodwill and doing good deeds in the community can ensure a return of goodwill from the community. In addition, community involvement can provide an ideal networking opportunity and enable scrap processors to improve their business area, making it more attractive to new industries and customers.

But scrap recyclers say that their primary motivation for getting involved is nonmonetary, even nontangible, just something they feel is right. The personal satisfaction that such activities bring is the real reward behind community involvement. "It makes your life whole when you have the time and money to be able to help others," notes Loef.

Marvin Simon, vice president in charge of brokerage for McKinley Iron Inc. (St. Louis), has experienced that personal fulfillment from his 22 years working on behalf of his community's Metropolitan Employment and Vocational Services (formerly Jewish Vocational Services). As a past president and devoted board member of the group, he helps provide services that enable disadvantaged and handicapped people learn life skills and become productive members of society. "Over the years, this work has probably provided me with much more satisfaction than the financial rewards of my business," Simon says. "All these little things that people do have an impact on the shaping of our society. Think of what terrible shape the world is in and how much worse it would be if people weren't willing to share direction and financial resources with the underprivileged."

Michael Green, president of Cohen and Green Salvage Co. Inc. (Fayetteville, N.C.), perhaps speaks for all scrap recyclers when he says, "Charity, helping others, and working with different groups is just a way of life. It's not something special. It comes as much as anything from the way you're brought up. I think that's our heritage."

Profiles in Giving

It seems as if almost every scrap company is involved in some way with its community or national charitable organizations. For most, such involvement is as much a part of doing business as their day-to-day trading transactions. Following are just a few examples of how some firms in the industry have worked to fulfill the needs of their communities and more.

Aaron Metals (Oakland, Calif.): After Oakland's devastating fire in October, Aaron Metals decided to donate a portion of its November sales to help provide food and shelter for fire victims. In all, the firm contributed $7,700 to the Oakland Community Fund—one of the largest amounts to come from a local business.  

B. Abrams & Sons Inc. (Harrisburg, Pa.): In 1966, Samuel L. Abrams formed a foundation to provide interest-free loans to Harrisburg-area students to help them finance their college education. Starting with an original fund of $100,000, the Samuel L. Abrams Foundation has grown to more than $1 million today, with approximately $280,000 currently on loan to 162 students. Until his death in 1991, Abrams made it a point to interview each candidate personally, a practice that has been continued by his daughters and son, Richard E. Abrams, the company's president and an ReMA past president. The foundation offers loans between $800 and $1,000 per year, and focuses on average or above-average students who can't receive financial aid elsewhere. "We like to be viewed as a last resort for these kids," Abrams says.

Annaco Inc. (Akron, Ohio): For the last three years, Annaco has participated in Recycle With Ohio Zoos, collecting recyclables at the Akron Zoological Park and providing recycling education displays for zoo-goers. The company also picks up used beverage cans from fire stations in Summit County , with the proceeds going to Aluminum Cans for Burned Children. The program has raised as much as $20,000 in one year, says Executive Vice President William Lowery. "The rewarding part is that people are learning about recycling and how it works, particularly with our zoo project," he says. "There's just a wealth of interest and enthusiasm out there for it, and it's fun to be a part of that." In addition, last December, the company's office and management staff forwent its Christmas dinner party to purchase an industrial pallet lift jack, which it donated to the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank.

Gahagen Iron & Metal Co. (Commerce City, Colo.): Two times a year, Gahagen sponsors recycling drives in cooperation with Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (St. Louis). Customers who bring in 100 pounds of cans receive not only cash for their recyclables, but also a turkey at Thanksgiving and a ham at Easter. The firm also gives a $1,500, two-year scholarship to a local high school student each year.

Levin Brothers Inc. (Burlington, N.C.): In 1961, Jack Levin, the company's vice president, was suffering from severe tremors and other symptoms, which later were determined to be due to Wilson's disease, an inherited metabolic disorder that produces toxic excesses of copper in the liver and brain. After undergoing a special treatment that had only recently been developed at the time, he was completely restored to health. Since then, Levin has been a tireless spokesperson on the disease and has raised more than $1 million from scrap businesses nationwide to fund the National Center for the Study of Wilson's Disease (Bronx, N.Y.). In November, the center voted to name its new clinic and research facility The Jack L. Levin Laboratory for the Study of Wilson's Disease.

T.A. Predel & Co. Inc. (Schenectady, N.Y.): For more than 18 years, Mary Predel, the company's president and secretary, has been talking to local groups and appearing on television and radio shows to promote recycling. The Predel company also offers plant tours, raises funds for a local college, sponsors a Little League team, and assists theSchenectady city mission, a homeless shelter for men and women. In addition, the company has set up recycling programs with 65 schools, four hospitals, and two television networks in the area. As proof of Predel's commitment to her community, she was nominated as outstanding businesswoman of the year in 1991 by the Albany County Chamber of Commerce.

ISRI Chapters Get Involved

ReMA's chapters know something about giving: More than 20 percent of the chapters—5 out of 24—sponsor academic scholarship programs, usually assisting college-bound children of chapter member firms.

The age of the programs and the amount they award varies, but at more than 20 years old, the Gulf Coast Chapter's program is the grandparent of them all. The program, which was recently named the William A. Bushman Memorial Scholarship Fund, awards four $2,000 scholarships per year. The Empire Chapter's program, named the Harold Goldman Scholarship Fund, was formed in 1978 and now splits approximately $2,200 per year between two scholarships—one based on need and merit, the other on an essay contest. The Keystone Chapter's four-year-old program awards one $4,000 scholarship per year, paid in $1,000-per-year installments over four years. The Rocky Mountain Chapter has the youngest program at three years old, giving one $1,000 scholarship per year. The Southeastern Chapter also offers scholarships.•