Steel Structures America Inc., of Post Falls, says its expanding thanks to strong sales over the past four years.


The company plans to build a $1.5 million headquarters in Post Falls that will be three times the size of its current main office, and has opened two sales offices in Washington stateone on Spokanes North Side and the other in Selah, north of Yakima.


Justin Sternberg, who owns the company with his brother, Shawn, says Steel Structures expects to break ground in May on its new Post Falls shop and headquarters at 3051 E. Seltice Way. That building will be a 10,000-square-foot structure that Sternberg says will be brightly colored to make it highly visible from Interstate 90. The company designed the building with assistance from Dzign Group LLC, of Hayden.


The company plans to lease out its longtime, 3,200-square-foot building at 3635 E. Covington to Done Now Signs & Banners, of Hayden Lake, Sternberg says.


Steel Structures has just opened its Spokane office in a leased 4,000-square-foot building at 2915 N. Division that includes about 1,400 square feet of showroom space to display examples of its materials, he says. The company has hired two salespeople and an administrative staff person for that office. Steel Structures America made its own improvements to that space and to a leased 1,000-square-foot space in Selah where it has opened an office with two salespeople, he says.


Altogether, the company typically employs more than 100 people in the busy summer months, including between 15 and 25 regular full-time employees at its Post Falls headquarters, Sternberg says. In addition to the employees at its headquarters, its work force includes up to 25 crews, each with between two and four employees, that erect the buildings it sells, he says.


Sternberg says consistent growth over the past four years has spurred the expansion. He declines to disclose the companys revenues, but says that though the market is down overall for steel and post-frame buildingswhich Steel Structures manufactures and installs on-site for its customers in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregonthe company has increased its market share in the industry here. Post-frame buildings, also called pole buildings, are wood-framed buildings that typically have steel siding. Sternberg says the company also builds all-steel structures and has sold and built more than 500 projects each year for the last four years and anticipates similarly strong sales this year.


Steel Structures America builds commercial and residential steel buildings and structures including garages, mini-storage facilities, carports, barns, and custom-designed buildings. The Sternbergs bought the company in 1999.


Contact Jeanne Gustafson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at jeanneg@spokanejournal.com.