B.L. Duke Named One Of Crain's Fast Fifty Companies for 2018
CHICAGO (PRWEB) July 09, 2018 -- B. L. Duke is pleased to announce that the scrap metal recycling company has been named one of Crain’s 2018 Fast Fifty companies. Each year, Crain’s releases its Fast Fifty list, which recognizes Chicago-area companies that have shown significant growth over a five-year period. This is the second time B.L. Duke has made this list, the first time being in 2015 for growing nearly 300 percent in five years.
“It’s truly an honor to be named among the impressive list of honorees across many thriving industries,” said B.L. Duke President & CEO Lou Plucinski. “Hands down, this recognition is the direct result of the hard work of our team. I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished together as a company in the past few years.”
The recognition comes after a year of continued innovation and growth for B.L. Duke. Earlier this year, they were named a finalist for the 2018 American Metal Market’s Steel Excellence Award in the Scrap Company of the Year category. In addition, B.L. Duke recently announced a new stevedoring division, B.L. Duke River Transport in Joliet, which is housed on the recently acquired site of the former Gerdau Rolling Mill property. This new division allows them to transload finished steel product—including coils, bar stock, rebar, wire, and structural steel—to rail or truck from barges coming from mills in the south and Gulf coast.
“The growth our industry has seen over the past few years has been incredible. Paired with the fact that we’ve focused on strengthening our logistics services, building customer relationships, and investing in technology, we’ve been able to expand our services and continue to revolutionize the industry,” said Plucinski.
In 2017, B.L. Duke increased sales revenue by 65% and added 32 employees to their workforce. In addition, the company has evolved practices as the industry demands it. For example, they were proactive amid impending 2018 IDOT regulation changes, expanding their fleet by 30% by adding 13 trucks, hiring new drivers, and building a new maintenance shop to manage operating costs and better maintain their fleet.
For more information, contact Shannon Collins, Sales Manager at sevoy(at)blduke.com or visit blduke.com.
Marissa Plucinski, B.L. Duke, http://www.blduke.com, +1 773-778-3000, [email protected]
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