K.O. Steel Foundry May be Shuttered

TIC United Corp. of Dallas has notified the Texas Workforce Commission of its intention to permanently close its K.O. Steel Foundry & Machine Division in San Antonio if it is unable to sell the facility.

"It is anticipated that 114 employees will be affected by the closing which will occur between Feb. 21 and March 7, 2003, unless the sale is finalized," says TLC President H. Malcolm Lovett in a letter to TWC.

Lovett says TLC is currently negotiating the sale of the foundry, but gave no further details.

KO Steel has operated a factory in San Antonio since 1938. Last year, the foundry reportedly employed 220 workers at its 175,000-square-foot facility at 3700 Pitluck Ave. KO Steel purchases scrap metal in bulk from a variety of local sources, blasts it in a furnace at more than 3,000 degrees and pours the liquefied steel into a cast. The products are then shipped to KO Steel's customers throughout the United States. San Antonio Business Journal