SDI Co-Founder Richard Teets Calls it a Career and Announces March Retirement
02/17/2016 - Steel Dynamics Inc. co-founder and former AIST board president Richard P. Teets Jr. has announced he’ll retire in March, bringing to an end a nearly 40-year steelmaking career and prompting the company to reorganize its management structure.
"We are all indebted to Dick, and I, along with our board of directors, recognize and appreciate his contributions to the company and the industry in general,” said SDI chief executive Mark D. Millett in a statement.
“Dick's engineering talent, operating knowledge and negotiating ability have touched every aspect of the company's operations, creating novel approaches to problem solving and unique business models that help to differentiate us from our peers and drive superior performance.”
A mechanical engineer by education, Teets, along with Millett and board chairman Keith Busse, left Nucor to form Steel Dynamics in 1993. Together they grew the business into one of the top steel producers in the U.S.
Teets began his career in Pittsburgh at the former J&L Steel, a predecessor of LTV Steel. He spent 10 years at the company, working in various roles in engineering, maintenance and production. He eventually took a job with Nucor to help build its thin-slab compact strip facility in Crawfordsville, Ind., USA.
After spending six years at Nucor, Teets, Millett and Busse struck out on their own.
Teets currently oversees all of SDI’s steel operations, which include its flat rolled division, its engineered bar products division, the Roanoke Bar division, Steel of West Virginia Inc. and The Techs galvanizing operations.
His retirement will take effect 31 March , but he’ll remain on the company’s board of directors. He’ll also provide consulting services to SDI through the end of 2016. As a result of his retirement, the company is reorganizing its management structure and promoting three into new roles.
Among those being promoted is Christopher Graham, who has been named senior vice president of the downstream manufacturing group. In that role, Graham will continue to oversee the company’s fabrication business, but will lead its other downstream manufacturing operations.
In 2014, Graham was tasked with overseeing the integration of SDI's newly acquired flat rolled mill in Columbus, Miss., USA.
Also, Glenn Pushis has been named senior vice president of the long products steel group. In that role, he’ll oversee SDI’s four long products mills, which, combined, are capable of producing 3.8 million tons of engineered bars, structural steel, rail and merchant bars, among other products.
Since 2014, Pushis, also a former AIST board president, has led the company's Butler flat rolled division and six flat rolled coating facilities in Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Additionally, Barry Schneider has been named senior vice president of the flat rolled steel group and will oversee SDI’s two flat rolled mills and eight flat rolled coating lines. Together, those facilities are capable of annually producing 7.2 million tons of hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel products.
Since 2014, he has overseen the company's engineered bar products and Roanoke Bar divisions
All three men are SDI veterans and were part of the team that built the company’s first steel mill in Indiana. They’ll all report directly to Millett.
“The three … embody SDI's culture of excellence and innovation, and each has been with the company in various roles of increasing responsibility since our beginning, over 20 years ago. They each bring a unique skill set and strength of leadership that will be even more evident in their expanded roles,” Millett said in a statement.
“Dick's engineering talent, operating knowledge and negotiating ability have touched every aspect of the company's operations, creating novel approaches to problem solving and unique business models that help to differentiate us from our peers and drive superior performance.”
A mechanical engineer by education, Teets, along with Millett and board chairman Keith Busse, left Nucor to form Steel Dynamics in 1993. Together they grew the business into one of the top steel producers in the U.S.
Teets began his career in Pittsburgh at the former J&L Steel, a predecessor of LTV Steel. He spent 10 years at the company, working in various roles in engineering, maintenance and production. He eventually took a job with Nucor to help build its thin-slab compact strip facility in Crawfordsville, Ind., USA.
After spending six years at Nucor, Teets, Millett and Busse struck out on their own.
Teets currently oversees all of SDI’s steel operations, which include its flat rolled division, its engineered bar products division, the Roanoke Bar division, Steel of West Virginia Inc. and The Techs galvanizing operations.
His retirement will take effect 31 March , but he’ll remain on the company’s board of directors. He’ll also provide consulting services to SDI through the end of 2016. As a result of his retirement, the company is reorganizing its management structure and promoting three into new roles.
Among those being promoted is Christopher Graham, who has been named senior vice president of the downstream manufacturing group. In that role, Graham will continue to oversee the company’s fabrication business, but will lead its other downstream manufacturing operations.
In 2014, Graham was tasked with overseeing the integration of SDI's newly acquired flat rolled mill in Columbus, Miss., USA.
Also, Glenn Pushis has been named senior vice president of the long products steel group. In that role, he’ll oversee SDI’s four long products mills, which, combined, are capable of producing 3.8 million tons of engineered bars, structural steel, rail and merchant bars, among other products.
Since 2014, Pushis, also a former AIST board president, has led the company's Butler flat rolled division and six flat rolled coating facilities in Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Additionally, Barry Schneider has been named senior vice president of the flat rolled steel group and will oversee SDI’s two flat rolled mills and eight flat rolled coating lines. Together, those facilities are capable of annually producing 7.2 million tons of hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel products.
Since 2014, he has overseen the company's engineered bar products and Roanoke Bar divisions
All three men are SDI veterans and were part of the team that built the company’s first steel mill in Indiana. They’ll all report directly to Millett.
“The three … embody SDI's culture of excellence and innovation, and each has been with the company in various roles of increasing responsibility since our beginning, over 20 years ago. They each bring a unique skill set and strength of leadership that will be even more evident in their expanded roles,” Millett said in a statement.
