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Salem company receives state award
By D.A. WILKINSON
LISBON
Butech Bliss in Salem has received a state award for building machinery used in the steel industry in Germany.
Jock Buta, the vice president of the company, was recognized Wednesday by the Columbiana County commissioners, who presented him with a plaque from the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance, a 20-year-old economic- development program.
Penny Traina, the president of the commissioners, said Butech Bliss “was bringing new revenue into the state” that will help with the local quality of life.
The Salem heavy- equipment manufacturer had submitted a bid to ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel producer, to help build the world’s largest hot-steel slab shear.
Buta said the steel “is a big slab of red-hot steel coming out a furnace.”
The steel is treated chemically and rolled through a mill.
Buta said the steel is 3 inches thick at each end and is 84 inches wide. Both ends must be cut while the steel roll is moving at about 200 feet per minute. The cuts are made with the shears built by Butech Bliss.
Overall, the machinery involved in the process weighs more than 1 million pounds.
Buta didn’t release the cost of the shears, but the company’s award said that it has $50 million in sales worldwide annually and has a $1 million annual payroll.