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Updated: October 28, 2019 / 2019 Family Business Awards Honorees

Amid recent expansion, Albert Brothers metal-recycling business celebrates 125 years

Three generations of Alberts in the family business in early 2019, including: (from left) Eric Albert (4th generation), Burt Albert (3rd generation), Jake Albert (5th generation) and Jonathan Albert (4th generation).
By Matthew Broderick

 

1st Place — 25–75 full-time employees category

This past April, a month before he passed away, Burt Albert, the third-generation patriarch of Albert Brothers Inc. — the Waterbury metal-recycling company that will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2020 — had the opportunity to witness his 26-year-old grandson, Jake, join the family business.

“My dad said that having his grandchild make that decision [to join the company] was absolutely one of the highlights of his life,” said Jonathan Albert, the company’s executive vice president and Jake’s father.

It was similarly significant to Jake who, like his grandfather, started working summers as a teen in the family business, which traces its roots to Burt’s grandfather in 1895.

“It’s pretty special to now be a colleague with people I’ve known my whole life,” said Jake, who in addition to his father, works with his uncle Eric, Albert Brother’s president.

While the company remains bullish about its future — and recently invested in the renovation of a 10-acre, 130,000-square-foot facility to accommodate growth and efficiency initiatives — Eric says the metal-recycling sector as a whole is facing headwinds driven by the impact of tariffs and volatility in global markets.

“The recent tariffs [by the Trump Administration] were set up to put a tax on raw materials, which has impacted local manufacturers who are paying more for those materials,” Eric explained. “At the same time, due to the tariffs, China has backed off buying a lot of materials, so what we’re seeing here in the U.S. is an oversupply of raw material scrap with lower-end demands.”

However, the longer-term signs for the industry are positive, with the global recycled metal market projected to grow at a 3.8 percent annual growth rate and reach $950 billion in sales by 2026, according to Acumen Research, a policy research firm.

That growth is expected to be fueled by a heightened awareness of the power savings of secondary, or recycled, metal manufacturing and its positive environmental impact. Recycling steel, for instance, requires nearly 60 percent less energy than producing steel from iron ore and reduces carbon dioxide emissions, a leading cause of global warming, by up to 58 percent, according to General Kinematics, a global provider of recycling, mining and processing systems.

The combination of business and environmentalism is what attracted Eric to the family business in the mid-1980s. “I really enjoy knowing we are doing something positive for the environment,” he said.

And it’s not just industrial sectors, like manufacturing and aerospace, where Albert Brothers is leaving its mark. The company works with contractors like roofers and plumbers who generate scrap that they want properly recycled.

The company’s success and longevity are due to its core values, which have been continued with each new family generation of leadership, Eric says.

“This is not the easiest business,” he said. “It can be physically difficult, but [our employees] understand stewardship and teamwork and we’ve worked hard to build a culture that is incredibly consistent.”

A big part of that consistency has been a loyal workforce of nearly 65 employees, some of whom have worked there for decades.

Beyond the competitive wages and social outings the company hosts for employees, Eric says Albert Brothers has made the investment in training to enable employees’ upward mobility.

“We understand that beyond buying, processing and selling scrap [metal], we’re responsible for everybody [at the company] and we take that very seriously,” he said.

Return to HBJ’s 2019 Family Business Awards landing page

Albert Brothers Inc.

Headquarters: Waterbury

Industry: Metal Processing and Recycling

Year Founded: 1895

Founder: Nathan Albert and Lewis Albert

Generation Currently Running Company: 4th

No. of Full-Time Employees: 64

No. of Part-Time Employees: 5

Family Members Currently Employed at Company: Eric Albert, President, Burt Albert’s (3rd Generation) Son; Jonathan Albert, Executive Vice President, Burt Albert’s Son; Jake Albert, Senior Investment Associate, Jonathan Albert’s Son.

Company Website: http://albertbros.com/

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