Page 40 from: May 2008
040 May 2008
By Manfred Beck Father & Son
Born in 1922, Ben Sacco lived his first 13 years in the small southern Italian town of
Montemurro. In 1935, he emigrated to the
USA with his father, settling in New York.
There, Sacco senior earned a living as a ball-
room dancing teacher while Ben attended his
high school studies.
In World War II, Ben Sacco enlisted in the US
Air Force and served in the air corps military
police from 1942 to 1946. Following his dis-
charge, he returned to New York and consid-
ered his career options: he had aspired to be
an attorney but he briefly followed in his
father’s dance steps, working for a short time
as a dance teacher. In 1947, he decided to
move to California.
Mr Sacco soon spotted an opportunity in the
agricultural bag business and so he established
Sierra Bag Co. in 1947. The bag business took
him around the world to Hong Kong, India,
Lebanon, Egypt and a number of other coun-
tries where he bought jute and jute bags.
Despite its name, the company also handled
scrap items such as radiators and batteries.
Mr Sacco and his business partner Morris
Rosenberg formally established their interest
in scrap in 1959 by founding Sierra Iron &
Metal Co. (now Sierra Recycling & Demoli-
tion), which began handling all types of fer-
rous and non-ferrous scrap.
From bags to balers
In 1985, Mr Sacco decided to sell Sierra Bag Co.
As that venture ended, however, another of his
business adventures began. The story goes like
this: during a visit to Italy in 1984, one of Mr
Sacco’s friends asked if he’d
like to visit a scrap yard near
Venice. There, he saw a
unique machine – a mobile
baler – in operation. ‘Now,
I’m a clock watcher,’ says Mr
Sacco, ‘so I clock-watched
this baler’s operation and
estimated that it could bale a
minimum of 45 tonnes a day.
In the USA, processors were
baling about 20 to 25 tonnes
a day. So what did I do?’
He visited the baler manu-
facturer Tabarelli/Idromec
and ordered one of the balers
for his operation in Bakers-
field. Another scrap operator saw it work and
was so impressed that he wanted to order one.
So Mr Sacco asked Tabarelli/Idromec if he
could become its dealer for California. He was
told that if, in the first year, he succeeded in sell-
ing two machines, he could have the dealership
for the entire USA. In the first year, he sold 18
machines. In 1987, Mr Sacco founded Sierra
International Machinery.
In addition, Sierra introduced the shear/baler
to the US market. ‘This is what I’m proud of
– we gave the industry a tool that it did not
have,’ he says. ‘Other manufacturers wanted
to sell the people two machines instead of
one. We sold them one machine that would
do the job of two.’
Impressive track record
The shear/baler established Sierra Interna-
tional Machinery as a player in the recycling
equipment market. Over the years, the com-
pany has broadened its equipment offering to
include shear/baler/loggers, cranes, grapples,
shear attachments and more besides. The firm
has also expanded beyond the USA to sell
equipment around the world. In addition to
Ben, John and Philip Sacco have dedicated their working lives to scrap
on both the processing and equipment-selling sides of the business.
John heads Sierra International Machinery while
his brother Philip runs Sierra Recycling &
Demolition, both based in Bakersfield, California,
USA. Ben Sacco, an industry icon, is Chairman of
both companies and, at the age of 86, is still
deeply involved in the business.
A Sierra shear/baler in action in the scrap yard.
From left to right: John, Ben and Philip Sacco
in their booth at ISRI’s 2008 Convention &
Exposition in Las Vegas.
Philosopher Ben Sacco observes:
‘The mother of ignorance is always
pregnant.’
Following in the footsteps of an industry icon
RI_072_Father&son-Sierra.indd 2 14-05-2008 17:01:29
