Family business providing support for major building projects
A welder at Sanpete Steel, Moroni, works on a column for a building that is being constructed at Utah Valley University. Their products have been used in many projects around Utah, Nevada and other areas. The family business, spanning three generations, employs between 35 and 40 local workers.
Steel supports created by Sanpete Steel in Moroni are shown during construction of the AF Tower in American Fork.
MORONI–Utilizing the strong ties between, son, father and grandfather, a local family has built a company that is providing the fundamental strength for major business and educational structures in Utah, Nevada and beyond.
Located at 685 E. Main in Moroni, Sanpete Steel fabricates the columns and beams that form the main structural support of large buildings. Locally, their work has been part of the construction of Snow College’s Eccles Center for the Performing Arts and the Sanpete County Jail.
Outside of Sanpete County, Sanpete Steel has assisted in the construction of buildings such as the 150,000-square-foot Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center at the University of Utah, the 255,000-square-foot classroom building addition at Utah Valley University (UVU) and the new 358,000-square-foot Provo High School.
“We’re just finishing a project right now for the University of Utah mental rehabilitation center,” said Alex Richards, Sanpete Steel’s vice president of operations. Most of the company’s work is for projects along the Wasatch Front, but Sanpete Steel is licensed in Utah, Nevada and Hawaii.
A family business, Sanpete Steel was formed 26 years ago by Richards’ father Jeff and grandfather Gary. Both men worked for steel fabrication companies in the Salt Lake City area, with Gary eventually retiring and moving to Sanpete County. Jeff decided he wanted to create his own company and asked Gary to join him in the venture.
Richards said his grandfather said OK, but the new business had to be located in Sanpete County. “He didn’t want to go back to the city,” Richards said.
Sanpete Steel’s first location was a small building in Fairview, but the business quickly outgrew its home and moved to its current facility in Moroni in 1998. It currently employs between 35 and 40 people.
The steel arrives at the facility in raw lengths that are then cut to the proper sizes. Welders then attach base plates, column clips and any other pieces required for attaching the building to its underlying steel skeleton.
“There’s a lot that goes into it,” Richards said. The company’s equipment is computerized, allowing the measurements to exactly match those dictated by the building’s plans.
The Sanpete business also hires subcontractors to assemble the finished steel pieces on the building site. “We’re very involved in the process in that way until the job is completed,” Richards said.
Sanpete Steel fabricated all the steelwork for the Mountain America Performing Arts Centre in Sandy — home of Hale Center Theatre — including the necessary supports to accommodate the theater’s stage that rises up and down like an elevator.
Currently, Sanpete Steel is working on steel supports for the new 180,000-square-foot building at UVU, and Richards said the future looks bright for the company.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff going on right now, big projects that we’re just starting and we’re very hopeful for the future, to see the construction continue on the uptick that it’s been,” he said.
