WEIRTON — Now that new owners are in the driver’s seat, USW Local 2911 President Mark Glyptis said he’s excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for Weirton’s mill.

Cleveland Cliffs announced Wednesday it had “successfully completed” its $1.4 billion acquisition of ArcelorMittal’s U.S. assets, including the Weirton mill, making it the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America.

In making the announcement, Cleveland Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said they “recognize our leadership role both domestically and globally as a major steel company, and pledge to operate our business in a disciplined, environmentally responsible, and socially conscious manner.”

“The potential of operating this set of assets under one roof is immense, and will be carried out to the benefit of our employees, their families, and the communities in which we operate,” Goncalves said.

Glyptis said the new owners have a reputation for being “conscientious and committed to a safe work environment for workers, and they want to be environmentally friendly, which is also important.”

“And they’ve been very successful,” he added. “Domestically, they are (concerned) about what the land is going to look like.”

He called it a “very exciting time” for Weirton’s workforce, pointing out Cleveland Cliffs has a very diversified product line.

“The iron ore they mine, along with the coke plants they acquired, means they’ll be running blast furnaces,” he said. “They’ll probably run every blast furnace they can get their hands on, and one of the products they’ll produce is hot band for tin plate.”

That plays to the Weirton mill’s strengths, he said.

“This is a great opportunity to solidify the tin plate business we do have and move into the future,” he said, pointing out Cleveland Cliffs inked the deal “in order to operate it, not to shut down plants.”

“So I think they will take every opportunity to work with employees,” he added. “That’s their reputation, working with employees. I think they’ll invest in the company and employees for long-term sustainability. With some proper investments, we could be here for a long time to come.”

Glyptis said it’s far too soon to say definitively where Cliffs will make those investments, “but I’m optimistic they will maintain and invest where they need to to keep operations running efficiently, both for the short- and long-term. I believe they will invest money into the operation.”

“Really, there’s only a few tinplate producers left in the country. That’s because it’s difficult to make. We’re good at it, but we can get even better. So there’s reasons to be optimistic,” he said.

“And I think workers themselves will welcome the change. I think there’s going to be a different philosophy in how the company is run, and teamwork is going to be a much bigger part of this company than it is today. Philosophically, companies have different views, different visions of how to operate their facilities — Cleveland Cliffs’ view, what they’ve done over the past 100 years, has been to work with employees to solve problems and produce the most efficient product they can produce. That takes teamwork, and that’s going to be the biggest part of the change. I think the workers are going to feel like they can be part of the solution, which isn’t necessarily the philosophy we’ve seen with recent owners.”

Glyptis expects to see a more hands-on approach, “and people will give you the shirt off their back if they feel they’re really part of the process. I think Cleveland Cliffs has demonstrated that’s a key component to their success.”

The Weirton plant currently has about 875 employees.