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A Scrappy Company

GLR Advanced Recycling changes with the times.

Henry’s grandson Sandy. The 52-year-old
Bloomfield Hills resident and his partners
any of Detroit’s Jewish families
— sister Ilene Rosen Bischer and Michael
share a similar story of humble
Bassirpour — are among the Jewish busi-
beginnings in America.
ness owners who remain an important,
Someone arrived with nothing, maybe
if not predominant, part of the industry’s
just the change in his pocket, worked hard, present and future.
fell in love, had kids and laid the founda-
At 92, Henry’s son Ben remains a partner
tion for the success of the next generation.
and finds ways to help steer the ship —
The story is perhaps a cliche, but it was
coming into the office during the summer
the common struggle for so many fleeing
to carry on the legacy his father left behind.
immigrants to thrive or even just survive in Today, the company not only has buildings
the land of opportunity.
with plumbing but is also finding dynamic
But as the details are lost in the gloss
ways to respond to a changing world.
of retelling a good story, it’s almost easy
“The economy has turned around, but
to forget just how hard it was for a Jew to
our industry is still fighting back its own
make it in America at the turn of the 20th
recession,” Bassirpour says. The 34-year-old
century.
grew up in West Bloomfield but moved to
Henry Rosen certainly didn’t have it
Chicago for a job in 2006 after graduating
easy. A Russian immigrant, he served in
from Michigan State University. Eventually,
the czar’s army before fleeing Russia in
the entrepreneur found his way home
1905. At 26 years old, without a penny to
before eventually joining Rosen’s family
his name, he found himself working in the
business.
newspaper delivery business in St. Louis
Bassirpour’s entry into the field came
before moving to Detroit in 1927. Henry
at a difficult time. “The recession trickled
started collecting paper, cardboard and
down. No one was manufacturing, and
rags to sell to recyclers. His first office was
that’s what we rely on. If nobody is mak-
a small building downtown without any
ing product to sell to the Big Three or the
plumbing.
building business, there’s no scrap out
The business grew. Men with pushcarts
there.”
would collect scrap metal in the alleys
But even with an uptick in American
around industrial buildings and
manufacturing, the scrap industry
sell what they found to Henry. At
has struggled.
17, his son Ben joined the busi-
“Our company’s growth in the
ness. Ben would drive a truck
last few years has been fairly dra-
route around the city, picking up
matic given the challenges we’ve
cardboard boxes and rags they’d
faced. China made too much steel
bail up and sell to paper mills.
and flooded the market and the
By the 1940s, the company
price dropped. Oil prices dropped
moved from Detroit to Roseville
and commodities have plummeted
Sandy Rosen
and their growth continued.
because they run together. As a
Today, GLR Advanced Recycling
result, we’ve refocused and built
operates nine locations and joint
an all-star team that’s helped to
ventures in Michigan and New
integrate technology into what is
York on properties from three to
an otherwise antiquated business,”
20 acres. The company employs
Bassirpour says. “We’ve pivoted
150 people and recycles more
the model, kept working hard and
than 100 million pounds of metal,
tightened up where necessary as
paper and plastic and more than
we find better ways to run the
Ilene Rosen
12,000 cars every year. Annual
business.”
Bischer
revenues exceed $75 million.
One shift was a focus on
That growth is truly astonish-
purchasing scrap cars, which
ing, considering Henry’s start in
Bassirpour says helped keep his
the scrap business was forged out
company afloat when hundreds of
of necessity, not opportunity.
scrap businesses across the country
“Jews couldn’t find much work,
were otherwise consolidated or
so they got in where they could.
shuttered altogether.
Some went into the clothing busi-
Today, GLR Advanced Recycling
ness or retail, but many collected
also owns www.thescrappost.
scrap because it was easy to get a
com — a website that is creating
Michael
hold of and easy to sell,” explains
a global marketplace to list and
Bassirpour

Ryan Fishman | Contributing Writer

M

36 August 18 • 2016

Russian immigrant Henry Rosen launched his scrapping company in 1927.

purchase scrap. Bassirpour describes the
site as a “Craigslist for the scrap industry.”
Peter Karmanos and his private equity firm
recently purchased a 50 percent interest in
the website.
“If you’re not working hard and not com-
ing up with new angles and new ways to
work smarter than your competition, you
can’t afford the house you just built or to
take care of your kids. That’s true no mat-
ter what industry you’re in,” Bassirpour
explains.
He and his, wife, Gillian, have a
13-month-old daughter, Hannah Rae.
The young family he’s working to support
recently moved to Bloomfield Hills and
joined Temple Beth El.
Today the company’s main office is in
Livonia, with metal yards in Roseville, Ann
Arbor, Port Huron and Flint. It operates
a paper, plastic and cardboard division in
Northville and an electronic recycling facil-
ity in Oak Park.
“We’re building a successful company
because of the people we have. We’re all
obsessed with finding better ways to do
business and this is an old-school, hand-
shake sort of business. That will never
change, but we can always be a step ahead
of the curve — or at least we can try,”
Bassirpour says.
Things have certainly changed since

1927-2016: What a difference 90 years
make!

Henry Rosen found his way to Detroit and
into the scrap business — a pioneer in what
is today a $120 billion industry.
“We still try to do things the right way.
It’s easy to make money the wrong way
in any business, but we’re trying to keep
Henry’s values — our community’s values
— tied into what we do.”

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