Economy
ASD Names Bill Hickey Exec of the Year for 2019
Written by Tim Triplett
November 21, 2019
The Association of Steel Distributors has named Bill Hickey, chairman of Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp. in Chicago, as its 2019 Steel Executive of the Year.
Hickey served as president of the family-owned service center for 40 years, growing the company to 10 locations and 700 employees before stepping back from day-to-day management. Son Brian now serves as company president and son Will as chief commercial officer, while daughter Laura works as a project manager.
Bill Hickey has long been considered an elder statesman of steel and continues his work as an outspoken advocate for the industry. In national leadership positions with the Metals Service Center Industry, the Illinois Manufacturers Association and other trade and government organizations, Hickey’s has been a leading voice in the industry’s call for free and fair trade.
In selecting Hickey for the Executive of the Year Award, ASD called him “one of the steel industry’s strongest advocates.” As he commented to FMA in a recent article:
“The majority of the elected officials in this country, especially in the U.S. Congress, just absolutely have no clue about manufacturing. They’re lawyers…. They just don’t have the understanding about manufacturing and the understanding of risking your money to build a dream of making a product or service. The problem is, when they make the rules, American manufacturers have it harder than competitors in other parts of the world. Somebody has to start talking about leveling the playing field.”
Hickey will be honored at an award ceremony and dinner March 3, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort in San Antonio, Texas, during the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association’s annual meeting. ASD is an affiliate of FMA.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Economy
CRU: Will US tariff policy be transactional or transformational?
The Trump 1.0 tariffs appeared to have little positive effect on the US manufacturing, partly because they hurt export competitiveness.
Beige Book finds mixed demand trends, tariff concerns
Manufacturing activity exhibited slight to modest increases across a majority of districts. However, manufacturers expressed concerns over the potential impact of looming trade policy changes between late January and February.
Construction spending drops marginally in January
Construction spending edged down slightly in January, slipping for the first time in four months. The US Census Bureau estimated spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,196 billion in January, down 0.2% from December’s downward revised rate. The January figure is 3.3% higher than a year ago. January’s result, despite the slight erosion, […]
ISM: Manufacturing expansion slowed in February
The Manufacturing PMI registered 50.3% in February. That’s 0.6 percentage points lower compared to the 50.9% recorded in January.
Chicago Business Barometer up but still pointing to weak conditions
The Chicago Business Barometer rose to an eight-month high in February. Despite the recovery, the measure continues to indicate deteriorating business conditions, as it has for over a year.