A s Allan M. Goldstein, AMG President and CEO,explains: ‘People still refer to us as a detinner,
which is less than 10% of our business. The good
news is that there are no more “big parts” of our busi-
ness. Each segment is a small percentage that when
added together make us a good-sized company.’
This stems from Mr Goldstein’s ‘first cousins’
business philosophy. ‘When you look at our growth,
you’ll see that we select niche areas to go in that
are related to our existing segments – or “first
cousins” of our existing businesses – and are areas
in which we want to grow,’ he explains. ‘We are
always looking for opportunities that fill in our
niche areas – geographically and in our product
lines. That’s been our goal.’
The most recent acquisition in pursuit of that
goal was closed on February 15 this year when
AMG acquired Midwest Steel & Alloy, Inc., a leader
in railcar dismantling, railcar parts reclamation,
mill roll processing and heavy burning. Midwest
operates from a 50-acre processing facility in
Youngstown, Ohio, and is supported by corpo-
rate/commercial offices in Cleveland and a commer-
cial office in Yorkville, Illinois.
Differing approaches
Although AMG Resources Corporation is slightly
more than two decades old, the company’s heritage
dates back much farther. Sidney Goldstein, Allan’s
father, was born in Brooklyn of Russian immigrant
parents. Growing up during the Depression influ-
enced his business philosophy, which was quite dif-
ferent from the one pursued by his son.
Characterised as ‘someone who worked his entire life
and was a hard, hard worker’, Mr Goldstein senior
was a scrap peddler. He had a truck (Allan still has
it), but no yard and no employees. He would pick up
scrap and then deliver it to a buyer at the end of the
day. He told his son: you don’t have equipment
Recycling International • March 2008 38
By Jim Fowler
AMG Resources’
philosophy of growth
Baler operator at work at AMG’s mill service operation SPSP in Sparrows Point, Maryland, USA
You may think it unusual to describe a major US scrap company as a
group of niche boutiques but, in essence, that is exactly what AMG
Resources Corporation is. Well, boutiques may be a stretch, but
most of the company’s business segments are a bit unique, related
to each other and generally dominant in their realm.
AMG Resources’ President and CEO Allan
Goldstein (left) and Jim Orendorff, Sr., who
heads AMG’s West Coast U.S. business,
based in Phoenix, Arizona.
RI_027 Comp. profile:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 15:44 Pagina 38
