ALRO STEEL CORPORATION
Dawn Thomas, General Manager of Alro Steel’s Clare facility, views every day as an opportunity to help a client business, an employee, or other businesses within the Central Michigan region. Her typical day starts early and runs late. When not in the office or on the manufacturing floor, where metal processing takes place, you will often find her involved with many groups around the region. Here are a few examples:
- Very engaged with the Industry/Education Roundtable which includes organizations from Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, and Isabella counties
- Board member of the CMMA
- Involved with the Career Technical Education programs in Gratiot and Isabella and promoting the millage proposal for Clare and Gladwin counties
- Board member of MTEC at Mid Michigan Community College
- STEM steering committee
ABOUT ALRO
Offering state of the art metal processing and next day delivery. Alro Steel has embedded the idea of treating all customers with the same level of care and respect into every aspect of the corporate culture. This is seen in their mission statement “to ensure the long-term success of Alro and its people by exceeding our customers’ expectations.” Since 2007, the plant in the South Clare Industrial Park has contributed to the company’s numerous quality awards and excellent reputation for on-time delivery. This plant is just one of the growing family of facilities that currently includes about 60 locations in 12 states.
The Clare plant is a proud member of a strong central Michigan supply chain. Steel sheets and tubes are received from the mills. A variety of lasers, saws, and press brakes are used to cut and bend steel to order. Blueprints provided by the customer are used to guide the process and to ensure area manufacturers and fabricators have exactly what is needed. Alro’s philosophy of excellence in service extends to their vendors and employees as well. Costs are cut through cooperative relationships with vendors. Employee input is valued on everything from facility expansion to improvement of operations to purchases of new equipment. The 99 employees of the Clare plant include Clare Public High School students who are receiving experience through a 6-week co-op program. Operations run 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
Dawn serves on multiple executive boards. She is free to spend as much time as she does volunteering because she has a great staff at Alro and she is supported by her corporate management team in her efforts to encourage careers in manufacturing.
