Gopher at a glance
Headquarters: Eagan, Minnesota
CEO: Brian Leen, hired in 2019
History: Gopher operates two lead battery recycling factories in the country, one in Minnesota and a second in Tampa. It bought the east Tampa factory in 2006. Gopher is classified as a secondary lead smelter because it recycles lead. It’s the only company of its kind operating in Florida.
What it does: The Tampa location recycles about 50,000 car batteries a day, extracting the lead, melting it, purifying it and forging it into new blocks that have been sold to ammunition suppliers, battery makers and the U.S. military.
Employees: About 600 in its two locations, with more than 300 in Tampa.
Revenues: As a private company, it doesn’t have to disclose this, but estimates are that it generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.
Ownership: Gopher is a private company founded in 1946 by Irving Kutoff. It operated as a family business for decades. It was bought in 2018 by Energy Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in New Jersey.
Please support investigative journalism
Projects like Poisoned are important and expensive. More than 25 journalists participated in our lead reporting initiative at the Tampa Bay Times over the past two years.
You can support investigative reporting at the Tampa Bay Times by contributing to our Tampa Bay Times Investigative Fund.
We have established a goal of raising enough money from the community to support our watchdog reporting team in our newsroom. The costs would cover salaries and benefits for one editor and four reporters, as well as health benefits, legal expenses, travel and reporting costs. That amounts to about $500,000 a year. Our goal to start is to raise two years’ worth of funds – or $1 million – to sustain our investigative reporting operation through 2022.
You can donate by clicking on the button below:
DonateYou also can donate by check, made out to the Poynter Institute, our nonprofit owner. Please put the name of the fund, “Tampa Bay Times Investigative Fund,” in the check’s subject line.
Mail to:
Tampa Bay Times Investigative Fund
C/O Poynter Institute, 801 Third St. S,
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
For more information, contact Annica Keeler, development and community relations director, at [email protected] or 727-892-2264.
We want to talk with you
Do you live in the neighborhoods of Grant Park, Oak Park, Florence Villa, Dixie Farms or Uceta Gardens in Hillsborough County? And do you suffer from these health issues?
- Heart ailments
- Kidney disease
- Infertility
- Hypertension
- Muscle weakness
- Behavioral problems
- Reduced attention span
- Cognitive disabilities
- Debilitating headaches
These are among the factors associated with high levels of lead exposure. Please contact us if you are interested in talking.
