As a part of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s First Five Year Plan to implement a rapid development of the nation's industry, it was decided that the government would sponsor a project with the goal of establishing the world's largest steel production complex. Initially the plan for the project was designed by the Soviets but then they also collaborated with Arthur McKee & Company, an American company, to oversee the construction and planning. The plan to turn Magnitogorsk into the complex that would become MMK came in conjunction with the buildup in the new city of Stalinsk that held large resources of coal.