It was 45 years ago that Ted Spidel was looking to own a business in Kendallville.
He was a salesman for Continental Motors out of Muskegon, Mich. "I was traveling all over the country. I wasn't home much, and I wanted to be home with my family," he said last week.
A friend mentioned to him how businessman Isadore Kleiman might want to sell his scrap metal business in Kendallville.
In October 1964, Ted and his wife, Shirley, purchased Kleiman's company located on a small parcel of land on Lincoln Street near the east-west railroad tracks dividing Kendallville. Four years later Spidel moved his scrap metal business to its current 14-acre location on Lisbon Road south of Kendallville, and Kendallville Iron & Metal, Inc. grew into one of the area's most successful businesses.
The company is celebrating 45 years in business this year, and its senior employee, Jack Jollief, is celebrating 30 years with the company.
"When dad bought the business from Isadore Kleiman, Sam Levin also owned a scrap metal business in town," said Gary Spidel, Ted and Shirley's oldest son and Kendallville Iron & Metal's president for marketing and sales.
Ted Spidel didn't know much about the scrap metal business at first and relied on employee Ray Kline for help. "I learned by trial and error," he said. "Ray taught me how to sort metals. I taught Gary, and Gary taught Jack," he said. "The public doesn't know how much goes into sorting scrap metal. There are numerous grades for each scrap category."
Ted started out with an old, 20-foot-long set of farm scales to weigh metal, and operated the business from an office trailer at the Lisbon Road site, until a two-story building was added. He had one employee.
Today, Kendallville Iron & Metal has 25 employees and is a recycler that processes and brokers all kinds of scrap metal, and has grown and expanded operations to include a transfer station for solid waste. The public, along with contractors, bring landfill waste to the facility where it is loaded into large trucks destined for state-approved landfills.
The company purchases its scrap metal from the public and industry. Common items are aluminum, aluminum cans, stainless steel, copper, brass, steel and cast iron. The scrap is sorted and sheared or baled according to customer specifications, said Gary.
During busy times, as many as 150 or more customers a day can pass through the company site. Ted's farm scales have been replaced by much bigger scales capable of weighing heavier loads.
Lynn Spidel, Ted and Shirley's other son, is the company's vice-president of operations, and their daughter, Susan Norris, is vice-president of finance.
A third generation has now entered the business with the addition of operations manager Jeremy Spidel, along with Brody Norris. Steve Taulbee is the company's general manager.
The family gathered last week to reminisce and laugh about the company's growing pains. Ted remembers the time in the late 1960s when he had an agreement with the Kraft Foods plant to haul away rejected marshmallows and starch. Instead of the material being sent to the landfill, he had developed farm customers up north who blended it with animal feed.
One load never made it. Traveling down Main Street in front of City Hall, the truck accidentally dumped its load. "There were marshmallows all over the place," said Ted.
Gary remembers a more serious time in the 1970s when steel shavings caught fire at the company site. "The fire department came but couldn't do anything about it. They had to stand and watch because at the time, because there was no foam or special equipment for that type of fire. We just let it burn itself out."
As part of the 45-year celebration, the company hosted a gathering for employees.
In addition to their three children, Ted and Shirley, who have been married for 60 years, have six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.