“Ohio and WV steelworkers make the best steel in the world,” Ohio senator says during visit in Weirton

WEIRTON, W.Va. (WTRF) – Hundreds of steelworkers will be returning to work thanks to a $150 million investment by Cleveland Cliff’s to repurpose their Half Moon warehouse into a transformer facility. A move Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown helped make happen.

Brown spent his Thursday afternoon visiting with Cleveland-Cliffs leadership and USW Local 2911 members at the site of the new transformer plant, which is expected to bring 600 jobs back to the Ohio Valley.

He spoke about the importance of keeping jobs and products American.

“Ohio and West Virginia steelworkers make the best steel in the world, period. I’ve seen it all over this company. I’ve seen it all over the USW. You love this country, and you fight for people who make it work. That’s what I do and that’s what I’ll always do.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown | (D) Ohio

In April, the idling of Cleveland Cliff’s devastated the region, costing nearly 1000 people their jobs.

It was a ruling made by the International Trade Commission (ITC) that Senator Brown said was a failure by the government to protect American workers.

Brown took on the Biden Administration and pushed for the Department of Energy (DOE) to change regulations that would prevent investments in American made transformers like this one from happening.

He says he will disagree with members of his own party, especially when Ohioans are at risk.

“I’ll disagree with them. I don’t really care when it comes to fighting for Ohio workers. And when I talked to the Union and Lourenco Goncalves, I saw that the ITC decision was awful, the Department of Energy rule was wrong. I went to the Department of Energy, President of my own party, and said this is wrong. And 600 jobs are here. It wasn’t that simple, but working with a reputable company like Cliff’s, working with the Union, you fight back.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown | (D) Ohio

Without the help of Brown’s bi-partisan efforts to change the DOE’s “deeply flawed regulation” , U.S. manufacturing steel jobs would be devastated and the ability to invest in American transformers made from American steel would be nearly impossible.

Cleveland Cliff’s CEO, Lourenco Goncalves, was also on site on Thursday and spoke very highly of Brown, saying he’s dedicated to protecting American workers.

“He’s a partner. He’s there in Washington, D.C., doing the bidding of the workers. He believes in middle class. He believes in democracy. There’s no democracy without jobs, without middle class, union jobs.”

Lourenco Goncalves | CEO, Cleveland Cliff’s

Goncalves says he is thankful to the employees and USW for making this facility a reality in Weirton.

“The most difficult part is to hire good employees with the skill set to produce the transformers, to assemble, to cut, to weld. And they know all that. That’s what they do here every day when they are working. So, it’s using their skill set to do something that’s necessary for the country. We need transformers in this country.

Lourenco Goncalves | CEO, Cleveland Cliff’s

He went onto say the country is currently short on transformers, and with the rise of AI, they will become more important than ever before.

“We are going to have the need for even more electricity going through the wires, we’re going to need a lot more transformers. That’s what we are doing.

Lourenco Goncalves | CEO, Cleveland Cliff’s

The transformer plant is expected to be online by the first half of 2026.

To read a full press release from Senator Sherrod Brown’s visit to Weirton, please click or tap on the link below.

Brown joins steelworkers at future site of Cleveland-Cliffs Transformer Manufacturing Plant

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