Page 100 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

potential impediments to the continued growth of the company. When the Lebanon Chemical fertil- izer facility at the foot of South Clinton Street closed in 2002, Rukert Terminals was first in line to make an offer. Acquisition of the 11-acre property adjacent to the Lazaretto Terminal brought the company’s total acreage to 120. That same year, the company built two new steel storage warehouses. First, a 40,000-square-foot warehouse named “M” building
When Bud, Bill and Rick
were hired, Rukert Terminals occupied 12 acres in Canton. Thirty years later, the company’s footprint had grown to an impressive 120 acres.
was completed. Then, Building #24 was finished. With 71,500 square feet of storage space, it was the company’s largest warehouse up to that point.
After a gradual failing and fear of a major collapse, the “B” berth pier at Lazaretto had been taken out of service in April 2001 on the wise advice of Steve Landess. Stevedoring of general cargo was moved to “C” pier. Early one morning a year later, a 200-foot section of the 40-year-old pier at “B” berth broke off and fell into the harbor. Luckily, no one was injured.
On January 1, 2003, Steve Landess was named Vice President of Facilities and Engineering. In addition to investigating the pier collapse, Steve
had several projects around the terminal. In March
of 2003, Building #26 was completed. This new 43,200-square-foot warehouse was constructed with main beams using steel and purlins from “H” building at Lazaretto, which had been disassembled in 2000. Rukert Terminals also added two more truck scales (for a total of eight) and a new scale house. An outside company was hired to demolish the buildings acquired from Lebanon Chemical, making way for another new warehouse at the expanded Lazaretto Terminal.
The three-story office building acquired during the 2001 land swap was reconfigured into
a multi-tenant office space in 2003. Terminal Corporation, a long-time friend of Rukert Terminals, agreed to lease the top floor for the next 10 years. HBO, which was filming the hit show
The Wire locally (including on Rukert Terminals property) was another notable tenant. Because it was acquired in the land swap, management decided to rename the building “Canton Exchange.”
Rick Wolfe retired in 2003, marking the departure of three-fourths of the management team formed in the 1970s. When Bud, Bill and Rick were hired, Rukert Terminals occupied 12 acres in Canton. Thirty years later, the company’s footprint had grown to an impressive 120 acres. In their
final decade with the company, revenue more than doubled. The capable trio of executives provided
a continuity of leadership that was crucial to the company’s success and longevity.
Like the outgoing team of executives, the
new 21st-century group was a mix of family and non-family. George Mister, head of Rukert’s long- time accounting firm Mister, Burton & Associates, called the team “more of a blend than a hierarchy.” Not ready to retire, Norm Rukert stayed on as Chief Executive Officer. John Coulter was promoted to President of Rukert Terminals in October 2003. In
92