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Monday was a big news day for our area as Cleveland-Cliffs announced plans to bring a transformer manufacturing operation to Weirton, with a goal of establishing around 600 USW-represented jobs.
According to everything sent out by the company Monday morning, the plan is to have everything set up in the Half Moon Industrial Park.
That still leaves up in the air what the fate of the tin mill will be, although CEO Lourenco Goncalves pretty much confirmed in his opening speech Monday that tin production was finished in Weirton.
I'll be perfectly open about this. I had heard a few whispers last weekend that some kind of announcement might be on its way. I didn't expect it to come in an email just after 7 a.m. Monday, nor did I expect for a press conference to be scheduled for that afternoon.
Yet, there we were, gathered in a hot and muggy warehouse a little before 2 p.m., while a light, refreshing rain came down outside, awaiting the official announcement to be made.
A lot will be happening between now and early 2026 when the company expects to have things up and running.
I really do hope it all comes through the way it's being described, and we can count this as another win for our area. We've had a few wins and many other losses over the years, but the bottom line is, these are jobs for the people of our communities.
A few observations from Monday's announcement:
Cleveland-Cliffs knows how to put on a show.
Walking into the staging area for the press conference, there was a stage with a large American flag hanging behind. There were smaller, American, West Virginia and Cleveland-Cliffs flags on poles directly behind the table set up for the guest speakers, with a tall, wooden stool for the governor and a nice chair for Babydog set up next to the table.
Risers were set up behind the audience for cameras used by the company and local television media. A video presentation was played on two large screens to either side of the stage.
This obviously had been in the works for some time.
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Most of us in the West Virginia media are used to Gov. Jim Justice being late for his appointments. His own "press briefings" are routinely behind schedule, so it wasn't a surprise when he rolled into the warehouse 20 minutes after Monday's announcement was set to begin….along with Babydog, of course.
He claimed they were planning to fly from Charleston to Wheeling, but there was an issue with the plane so they started driving north with the hope of being picked up (probably in Bridgeport or Morgantown) to make it the rest of the way. Then, they got a call that the plane was fixed, so they turned around and went back to Charleston to catch their flight.
I should point out the governor was in an Economic Development Authority meeting in Charleston, which began at 11 a.m. Monday, to approve funding for the project. I guess it's a good thing the plane got fixed.
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I was a little confused as to why Del. Pat McGeehan was part of the announcement considering none of the Cleveland-Cliffs operations in Weirton (and in particular the Half Moon Industrial Park) are located in his district.
District 1 in West Virginia's House encapsulates much of Hancock County, coming down to Weirton but stopping right along the Weirton city limits and running almost right along Kings Creek (dipping below in some areas) until you reach the Pleasant Valley neighborhoods, then it flows south along the city's most eastern sections and into Colliers.
All of the tin mill facilities and Half Moon are located in District 2, currently represented by Del. Mark Zatezalo.
I've know Pat McGeehan for a while, and I'm used to hearing him throw some philosophical meanderings into his public appearances and stump speeches. His address Monday was …interesting. I'd recommend people look it up for themselves on the Cleveland-Cliffs Youtube page, but most of it appears to have been cut out.
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Notably absent from Monday's event was Mark Glyptis, president of USW Local 2911. Several people noted Mark has been dealing with some health issues lately. I would like to wish Mark well, and hope for a speedy recovery.
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As mentioned, every indication is this new project will be located in Half Moon, an area full of warehouses and other facilities - several of which are owned by Cleveland-Cliffs. Let's hope this is the first announcement of many for the repurposing of the Cliffs' facilities, whether by the company itself or a new tenant or owner. We want to see our area continue to build itself back up.
(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @ChowellWDT)