Mayor Gives Update On Employment Efforts After Alton Steel Closure

City of Alton - Committee of the Whole Meeting

ALTON – Alton Mayor David Goins and Alderwoman Rosetta Brown addressed the recently announced closure of Alton Steel Inc. at this week’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

“It’s definitely something that is very disheartening and very untimely, and it took us all by surprise,” Goins said of Alton Steel closing.

Goins said several actions are being taken “behind the scenes” to help the approximately 253 displaced workers find employment elsewhere. The Madison County Employment and Training Department will help these workers fill out resumes and offer other assistance as they work to secure new jobs, potentially filling open positions at another local steel mill.

“They’re going to be working with Granite City Steel,” Goins added. “They have some job openings and they’re going to reach out to the union employees of Alton Steel to see if they can relocate those jobs for those individuals that have lost their jobs.”

Goins said the city has been working closely with state representatives such as Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, and the office of Governor JB Pritzker as city and state officials collaborate to secure employment for the displaced workers.

Brown, who is also running as a candidate for Illinois State Representative in District 111, added that she strongly supports her fellow aldermen doing everything necessary to secure employment for each of the former Alton Steel workers who have been impacted by the steel mill’s sudden closure.

“The situation that we’re in right now is over 200 people have lost their jobs within our city,” Brown said. “The only solution that I can see, among a couple other ones, is getting these jobs back … doing whatever we need to do in order to save the jobs of these people.”

A full recording of the Jan. 27, 2026 Alton Committee of the Whole meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.

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