Sourced For Sustainability

Sourced for Sustainability

By Bethany Orban

When you think of Long Beach, the first thing that should come to your mind is the 3,200 acre Port of Long Beach that supports over 51,000 workers within the region. What is the main accessory of the largest port in the United States? Shipping containers. Lots and lots of shipping containers.

Each year over 8.1 million TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units, enter Long Beach through its port. What happens to these containers after they have been used? Some are used again, some are taken and made in to scrap, while some are used to create one of Long Beach’s most unique restaurant venues on the coast.

Born out of a desire to see people come together over craft food and drinks, SteelCraft unites local eateries within a communal dining space. Steel- Craft is an outdoor eatery addressing two community issues, how to recycle and reuse shipping containers and how to create affordable and sustainable real-estate options for local eateries to operate and thrive.

A study done by the Small Business Association shows that 50 percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. One of the top reasons being the fact that the owner simply does not have enough capital. By creating a sustainable way for business owners to address the issue of overhead, SteelCraft is helping not only their own business model, but creating an incubator for a business owner’s dream to become reality.

With two locations featuring over 15 different specialty food and drink vendors. SteelCraft goes beyond placing a few shipping containers on a plot of land. They are creating a community of entrepreneurs who are serving the community of Long Beach one craft beer, waffle or mac n’ cheese bun at a time.

Bethany Orban is the manager of marketing and communications at ACCE. Connect with Bethany at borban@acce.org.

» While you're in town for #ACCE19, make sure to visit SteelCraft, located just a few miles from the Long Beach Convention Center.