SSWI said in an announcement that Ron Kostyo will take over as general manager of the facility, which is one of four under the Niagara LaSalle banner. 

“Ron is an industry veteran and a proven leader. I am confident in his ability to continue our efforts to drive safety improvement, enhance operational capabilities and strengthen Hammond’s position as the premier bar-to-bar operation in North America,” said Michael Salamon, SSWI’s president and chief operating officer.

Kostyo, who has more than 30 years of industry experience, previously served as general manager of automotive operations at United States Steel Corporation. Prior to that, he served as vice president and general manager of Severstal’s former integrated sheet mill in Dearborn, Mich. The plant was acquired by AK Steel Corp. in 2014. 

Kostyo succeeds Niagara LaSalle veteran Brian Fudacz, who has taken on the newly created role of general manager for quality assurance and customer technical services. In that position, he’ll oversee quality assurance, customer technical services and continuous improvement efforts across the company’s cold-finished bar business. 

“In this role, Brian will be responsible for driving quality processes and continuous improvement across our cold-finished steel bar business. His engineering background and his broad cold-finished bar experience make him particularly well suited for this position and these new responsibilities,” said Salamon.