Journey Steel is a certified minority-owned/woman-owned structural and miscellaneous steel fabrication and erection company. And the leadership team of Journey Steel has 60 years of experience in all facets of construction.
Journey Steel is led by President Barb Smith, who is considered one of the most qualified engineering professionals in the industry with an excellent education and track record, but she was constantly overlooked for promotions and leadership opportunities. In the face of adversity and discrimination, she embraced her entrepreneurial spirit and built her own steel erection construction company with her business partner Tom Garten. Now Journey Steel is a thriving business and one of the fastest-growing inner city companies with a 386% five-year growth rate. To learn more about the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Smith.
Barb Smith’s Background
Smith was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was the baby of 8 children. And Smith was educated in Cincinnati Public Schools and attended Eastern Michigan University (EMU) where she received a B.S. in Industrial Technology with a Construction Specialty. Smith – who is divorced twice – is the mother of two sons and a grandson. Prior to launching Journey Steel, Smith worked for general contractors and architectural/engineering firms for about 25 years before starting Journey Steel.
How Did The Idea For Journey Steel Come Together?
Smith told me that she met Garten in 1988 after graduating from EMU and working for William Cargile Construction, a general contractor company.
“We were instant friends and grew to be family over the years. We first talked about going into business together around 1996 but I was a single mother by then of two young boys that relied on me for everything so the timing was not right,” said Smith. “We continued to talk through the years and after thirteen years we decided it was time to start this ‘journey’ we had been talking about and the name of the company was sealed. The time was right – the economy was in a recession, but we knew it would rebound and we wanted to be ready when it did to change the world!”
Challenges Faced Building The Company
Smith pointed out that some of the immediate challenges were acceptance from the industry: new companies have it hard enough to break into the industry and win projects.
“But a minority-female-owned firm in a white male-dominated industry showed that the struggle was really quick. Another immediate and continued challenge was/is access to capital. Competing with larger firms for qualified key personnel is another challenge,” Smith added.
What Are The Core Products?
Journey Steel’s core products are structural and miscellaneous steel fabrication and erection – beams, columns, joist, deck, railings, stairs, platforms, pipe racks, grating, weld repairs, ladders, lintels, bollards and drone technology used for construction, maintenance, surveillance, marketing, asset management.
Biggest Milestones
“Some of Journey’s biggest milestones include being recognized as a company with the potential for growth by the Cincinnati Regional Chamber Minority Business Accelerator in 2012 and completing their first $1 million project. These helped us gain acceptance as a legitimate company,” Smith explained. “Another milestone for Journey was in 2017 when we were recognized by ICIC as one of the top 100 Inner City Businesses listed in Fortune Magazine. In 2022 we added a Drone division to diversify/add a new market sector.”
Customer Success Story
“One of our success stories was an emergency repair of box trusses for Duke Energy during record heat to ensure they would be able to keep power to the residents and businesses during the two-week heat wave,” Smith commented. “We worked around the clock in the heat to keep the city operational.”
Revenue Milestone/Goal
Journey Steel is now a $4 million company with a five-year goal of becoming a $20 million company.
Distinguished From The Competition
What distinguishes the company from the competition?
“Our give-back to the community – our non-profit- Journeys Soaring Impact – we change lives of inner-city youth. Doing business withJourney is directly impacting lives,” replied Smith. “In addition to Journeys Soaring Impact, we support several non-profits that impact the community such as Race to Unity a movement to break down racial barriers, Reds Community Fund reaching inner-city young people around softball and baseball providing support to help better their road to success, Square1 – supporting high school students with a desire to be entrepreneurs, IKRON – helping those with mental/physical disabilities to receive the help and support they need, The Black Family Reunion- keeping the heritage of African Americans celebrated in Cincinnati – and many others.”
Future Company Goals
Smith disclosed that the future goals include taking their non-profit all across the United States and changing the world one young person at a time. And the goal is to be a legacy company impacting the community for generations to come.
