David Sands, who for 27 years has lived just across the street from TimkenSteel’s Faircrest steel plant in Perry Township, got his first look inside the massive facility Friday morning.

“The technology is absolutely amazing,” the 58-year-old said. “And you couldn’t ask for a better community neighbor. They’re quiet. They’re clean.”

Sands said he wasn’t sure what to expect when he toured the plant. He was among numerous people invited to an open house to celebrate TimkenSteel’s commissioning of its $200 million jumbo bloom vertical caster, which the company says is the largest of its kind in the world.

“I never thought they had the technology in here that they do as far as for the manufacturing of the steel and the handling of the steel,” Sands said. “It’s impressive. It was well worth my time. I would suggest that anybody who has the time to take a tour do it.”

The caster, which officially started production in October, is the biggest part of nearly a quarter billion dollars worth of recent upgrades at the Faircrest plant, south of Canton. The 270-foot caster rises 180 feet in the air, with another 90 feet below the ground. Molten steel poured at the top creates “jumbo blooms” of high quality steel sections as large as 18 inches by 24 inches at the bottom.

“It will deliver benefits for many years to come,” said Tom Moline, executive vice president, steel manufacturing. He served as emcee for the commissioning ceremony, which took place under a large tent in the parking lot. Guests included employees, customers, suppliers, public officials and others. Moline noted that TimkenSteel is Stark County’s newest public company following its spinoff last summer from Timken Co.

Speakers were U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, U.S. Reps. Bob Gibbs and James Renacci, and TimkenSteel Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Ward J. “Tim” Timken.

“The remarkable part about this business is we keep reinventing the future,” Timken said. “We’re redefining the future once again.”

Gibbs said the new caster plant will keep and grow jobs. He also said proposed new federal clean-air regulations would hurt the economy.

“This is about jobs, this is about growth, this is about the economy,” Renaccis said of the plant.

Portman said the challenge is to make sure the TimkenSteel caster stays busy and has plenty of customers. Portman mentioned TimkenSteel’s United Steelworkers employees for their role at the plant.

The audience applauded the senator after he said he will introduce legislation next week intended to provide anti-dumping and subsidies relief involving unfair international trade.

The nation needs a more effective response to such things as currency manipulation and companies from foreign countries “competing here unfairly because they’ve been subsidized,” he said.

“The Steelworkers here today ... can compete with anybody,” Portman said. “ But we can’t compete if it’s unfair.”

Sitting in the audience was Joe Hoagland, the outgoing president of Steelworkers Local 1123 Golden Lodge. Hoagland afterward said he wanted to recognize the senator for acknowledging the union members’s role at the new plant. (Hoagland will be succeeded as union president in May by Bob Harper following elections on April 7.)

“We always looked at it as a $200 million investment, as we say it, as another anchor in the ground,” said Hoagland. “It’s reinvestment. You can’t ask for much more than that. ... Sometimes progress hurts jobs but you can’t ignore that. If reinvestment wasn’t done with newer technology, we wouldn’t have jobs eventually. ... It keeps the operation here. It’s a fine line.”

As for Sands, he went home with more than memories.

As he was getting ready to leave, Sands bumped into TimkenSteel CEO Timken who readily agreed to autograph the safety helmet Sands was required to wear on the tour.

Timken found a black marker pen and wrote “Thanks for being a good neighbor. Tim Timken”.

Sands was all smiles with his keepsake helmet.

“I have nothing but good things to say about them,” he said.�