By James McNair
Enquirer staff writer

Although some of its buildings in Lower Price Hill were devastated by fire Thursday night, Queen City Barrel Co. appears to be rolling right along.

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"Luckily, the vast majority of our container production and reconditioning is done in Columbus and Louisville," said Craig Feltner, company vice president. "We think we'll be able to meet the customers' needs with the facilities we have there."

In recent years, Feltner said, the Lower Price Hill plant has been used primarily as a warehouse and for the production of "oddball" containers. Consequently, only $2 million of the company's annual revenue of more than $32 million comes from the plant.

"They've been reducing production capacity at Queen City in Cincinnati for a number of years," said Paul Rankin, president of the Reusable Industrial Packaging Association in Landover, Md.

Queen City Barrel is one of the go-to companies for the reconditioning of steel, plastic and fiber drums and bulk containers. It employs about 400 people, including 60 at the Lower Price Hill operation. A subsidiary, Cargo Clean, has 30 employees in Evendale and Lower Price Hill.

"The sales trend has been very strong since January 2004," Feltner said. "In the market, we are the largest reconditioner in the Midwest."Rankin attested to that description.

"It's quite a large operation," he said. "I wouldn't know how to rank it, but I'd certainly put it in the top echelons of size and reach in our industry."

Queen City has struggled financially at times. During a three-year stretch from 2001 through 2003, the company was named in 23 civil lawsuits by creditors seeking a total of more than $159,000. But all obligations were met and lawsuits dropped.

"As any small, privately owned business, you have your ups and downs, and certainly the last few years have been tough," Feltner said.

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E-mail jmcnair@enquirer.com