Written by: John Packard, Publisher/Owner Steel Market Update

As a company grows it is important to review what has made the company successful to date. Then, after a few moments of taking comfort in the fact the company is alive and well after living through the worst economic meltdown in our lifetime, as the owner I took a deep breath and started making decisions which will help keep SMU relevant for years to come.

Last Fall we made a decision to build another website. As I looked at the two websites we have already built I was not pleased in how we were presenting our information and other services to our members and potential clients. SMU needed to do better. In about six months or less you will begin to evaluate whether or not we have leapt ahead or just stayed in contact with the competition.

Part of the new website will be new products. Our existing newsletter will become our “Basic” product. We are working on a “Premium” edition and other spin-offs which are related to specific industry needs we have identified. There will be much more about these products in the future.

As I mentioned in Sunday night’s edition of Steel Market Update we are “tweaking” our workshops in order to make them even more valuable to those attending our training classes. Steel 101 added Peter Wright a marketing expert and former metallurgist to our program. We are adding another person as well and I will speak specifically about him in a moment.

We are in the process of taking what is already the best workshop dealing with Price Volatility and Hedging Price Risk (according to the CME Group) and making it even stronger. We recognize the need to continue the educational process and to keep those who have attended our workshop engaged with what can be a confusing subject. We will have more about those changes in a future issue of SMU.

The original concept behind Steel Market Update was to produce relevant and timely material having to do with the flat rolled steel industry in North America. The key being the material is written by steel people for steel people. As the company grows and expands the need for a deeper bullpen became quite evident. The company needed another voice who could speak from experience and who could add depth to the dialogue SMU is having with the steel industry on an almost daily basis.

For many months we have been looking for the right blend of experience – educational and steel related – who could compliment my 31 years of active steel experience (and 4+ years of writing our SMU newsletter). The vast majority of my experience is tied to sales and management in the service center, trading company and domestic steel mill segments of the industry. I have been actively looking for someone who could compliment my experience by bringing purchasing strength coupled with a strong educational and ethical background.

Tony Bonavita Joins SMU

I am pleased to announce Tony Bonavita has joined Steel Market Update as of Monday of this week. Tony has six years of flat rolled steel purchasing and inventory management experience as the lead metals and product marketing manager at NB Handy Company. NB Handy is one of the largest HVAC and roofing wholesale distributors with product exposure in flat rolled (bare & prepainted), stainless, aluminum and copper. Tony has also spent time in process management, including Six Sigma and Lean training as well as graduate research and retail management. Tony has a BS degree from Liberty University in Communications and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Lynchburg College.

Tony is joining Steel Market Update as General Manager with responsibilities ranging from new content development, market research and product development, sales & marketing and working with on our conferences and workshops.

SMU has already begun to utilize Tony’s talents as an additional instructor in our newly revamped Steel 101 training program which we have expanded in order to address a wider range of topics critical to those trying to understand the steel industry.

Tony brings a purchasing and inventory management focus and experience to our newsletter, website and workshops/conferences which will compliment my many years of steel sales and management experience.

If you would like to reach out to Tony with any questions/suggestions or to just welcome him to our Team you can reach him at: Tony@SteelMarketUpdate.com or on his cell phone: 434-851-7322.