Hybar is officially open for business.
Photo by Sarah DeClerk
Osceola’s newest steel mill recently hosted its grand opening celebration. A video presentation and real-life eagle flight kicked off the program, which featured a presentation by Hybar CEO Dave Stickler and culminated in a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Photo by Sarah DeClerk
“We’ve accomplished a lot since we formed this company in August of 2023. We had three employees, a billion dollars in the bank and 1,300 acres of farmland,” he said. “We were almost like the dog that caught the car. What are we going to do now? Well, we are going to find out today what we were able to accomplish.”
Stickler said he was proud of the speed at which the facility was built, having produced its first rebar only 21 months after breaking ground. The highly efficient minimill is one of the most technologically advanced scrap metal recycling facilities in the world. Hybar has its own riverport, and among its other energy-efficient features, it boasts the largest behind-the-meter solar field in the U.S.
Left to right: Tom Williams and Dave Stickler. Photo by Sarah DeClerk
During the presentation, Hybar was awarded a sustainability award by BNSF Railway, which provides rail transportation to the site.
Photo by Sarah DeClerk
“This is an amazing accomplishment in terms of what you’re doing to stimulate growth in the industrial economy,” said Tom Williams, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at BNSF. “We honor a few customers every year with the sustainability award, and I can’t imagine having driven in, seeing all of those solar panels, that any of the recognitions that we’ve done have actually merited greater achievement than what you’re doing with sustainability here.”
Stickler added that his goal is to have the highest-paid steel workers in the world while maintaining the lowest labor costs. He committed to providing $1 million every year for 35 years to support infrastructure improvements in Mississippi County.
Osceola Mayor Joe Harris praised Stickler’s role in the city’s steel industry, as well as the local workforce.
Osceola Mayor Joe Harris. Photo by Sarah DeClerk
“We are now showing that we can do the job. We can make quality steel here in Osceola, here in the Delta, and our workforce can match anybody’s in the world,” he said. “I say to the workers here: You’re not just producing steel here; you’re producing pride, you’re producing friendships, you’re producing economic stability for your families, and it will produce a promise of a better future for this city and its people.”
Stickler hinted at the possibility of building another mill at the Hybar site.
Photo by Sarah DeClerk
“This area of our country really, as my good friend John Correnti, [late CEO of neighboring Big River Steel], who passed away a few years ago halfway through construction of Big River, I guess, really, now 11 years ago, used to say, ‘This is steel mill heaven,’” Stickler said. “It certainly is.”
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