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Pallet C e nt ral • No vem be r-D e cem be r 2 0 26 1 1 grocery, then a multi- location Italian gourmet market carrying more than 40,000 items. Today, Rulli Bros. is Youngstown's oldest grocery store and remains deeply woven into the community, supporting local churches, schools, and youth programs across the region. at background meant Rep. Rulli knew the rhythm of a family business well before he walked through the doors of Iron City Wood Products. He knew about the early mornings and late nights, the relatives who pitch in wherever they are needed, and the quiet weight of carrying a family name forward. At Iron City, he found all of that again, this time in a pallet recycling operation just down the road from his family's stores. Taking a Risk Iron City Wood Products' story began in 1987, when Dave Muslovski suddenly found himself out of a job at a northeast Ohio pallet shop. He had worked his way up there from diesel mechanic to sales and marketing, and business contacts who knew his talent encouraged him to start his own company. When the bank turned down his loan, family stepped in. Dave's siblings and his wife Denise's family took out lines of credit so the couple could buy their first truck, trailer, and forklift. Denise kept the books from their dining room while Dave made deliveries and sales calls by day and repaired trucks at night. After Dave's passing in 2010, his daughter Tina and her husband, DJ Yanssens, took the reins. ey soon moved the company to an 18-acre industrial park in Youngstown, where it has continued to grow. "e Congressman understood our story right away," said Tina Yanssens. "He grew up in a family business, so he knows what it takes to build something together and keep it going for the next generation." The Full Reach of a Pallet The t wo families already had plent y in common, but as the tour went on it highlighted the strongest tie of all: Rulli Bros. is an Iron Cit y vendor. They brought the Congressman out to the yard where a trailer of used pallets had just come from Rulli Bros. Seeing his own pallets made a vital connection for the Congressman: the visit showed the rest of a journey he had watched from the other end for most of his life. The same pallets that brought produce, pasta, and imported goods to his family's shelves were stacked in Iron Cit y's yard, waiting to be inspected, repaired, and put back to work. "They're taking something that could become waste and turning it into a valuable product while creating opportunities for local workers," noted Rulli. "That kind of ingenuit y is something we should be proud of in Northeast Ohio." Iron Cit y's f loor showed what happens next. A worn pallet is not waste. It can be repaired and reused again and again, and when it f inally reaches the end of its life, the wood is recycled into other useful products. A pallet that brings goods to Rulli Bros. today may leave Iron Cit y within days, ready to ser ve another business across Ohio. Seeing that cycle f irsthand gave the Congressman a clear view of how far our industr y reaches and how naturally circular it has always been. "Most people never see what happens to a pallet after it's unloaded," said DJ Yanssens. "It was special to show the Congressman that pallets from his own family's stores come here, get a second life, and go right back out to keep the supply chain moving."

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