.svg "Watch Our Video")
Drew Greenblatt: I believe in the American manufacturing renaissance. The American worker is an amazing worker. They're motivated. They're making things happen. And uh, we're doing our part here in Baltimore.
Baltimore people are—are real. They're straightforward. They tell you like it is. They work hard. And uh, I'm very blessed to be surrounded by uh, my team.
My father uh, was an entrepreneur and uh, so I got a business degree uh, every night at the dinner table. I bought Marlin Steel in 1998. It was a 30-year-old company straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. We've come a long way since those days.
Marlin Steel made wire baskets for the bagel industry for 30 years. And I thought when I bought the company, we were going to sell wire baskets to the bagel industry forever. Boy, was I wrong. We had imports come in from overseas that cost less than the steel. So all of a sudden, our business fell apart. We could either die, close down the shop, or we could pivot.
Right around this time, we got a phone call from an engineer who needed a customized basket. And that was my epiphany that that was our future. That was the way we were going to get out of this mess. Now, we focus 100% on custom baskets that are extraordinarily high quality.
We're not just creating jobs. We're creating careers, middle-class lifestyles. We're supporting the community. We had people that didn't own cars, didn't own homes. Their Social Security plan was their retirement plan.
Now we have a parking lot full of cars. More than half our employees own homes and everyone has a 401k. I mean, we have people that put kids through college here. We're paying for several people to go to school at night. We're furthering people's education. We're very proud of where we've come.
We want our city to thrive and grow and prosper. Manufacturing pulls people from poverty into the middle class. I mean, this is—this is what it's all about.
My name is Drew Greenblatt. I'm the owner of Marlin Steel.
Drew Greenblatt: I believe in the American manufacturing renaissance. The American worker is an amazing worker. They're motivated. They're making things happen. And uh, we're doing our part here in Baltimore.
Baltimore people are—are real. They're straightforward. They tell you like it is. They work hard. And uh, I'm very blessed to be surrounded by uh, my team.
My father uh, was an entrepreneur and uh, so I got a business degree uh, every night at the dinner table. I bought Marlin Steel in 1998. It was a 30-year-old company straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. We've come a long way since those days.
Marlin Steel made wire baskets for the bagel industry for 30 years. And I thought when I bought the company, we were going to sell wire baskets to the bagel industry forever. Boy, was I wrong. We had imports come in from overseas that cost less than the steel. So all of a sudden, our business fell apart. We could either die, close down the shop, or we could pivot.
Right around this time, we got a phone call from an engineer who needed a customized basket. And that was my epiphany that that was our future. That was the way we were going to get out of this mess. Now, we focus 100% on custom baskets that are extraordinarily high quality.
We're not just creating jobs. We're creating careers, middle-class lifestyles. We're supporting the community. We had people that didn't own cars, didn't own homes. Their Social Security plan was their retirement plan.
Now we have a parking lot full of cars. More than half our employees own homes and everyone has a 401k. I mean, we have people that put kids through college here. We're paying for several people to go to school at night. We're furthering people's education. We're very proud of where we've come.
We want our city to thrive and grow and prosper. Manufacturing pulls people from poverty into the middle class. I mean, this is—this is what it's all about.
My name is Drew Greenblatt. I'm the owner of Marlin Steel.
