The McCallie School does. The college preparatory school in Chattanooga is recognizing our own David Steele, McCallie Class of 1971 and Executive Chairman of J.C. Steele & Sons. Saturday, October 23, David will receive McCallie’s Alumni Achievement Award for his professional accomplishments and civic engagement.
David’s retiring at the end of 2021 and his retirement is significant for many reasons. He’s the last of the fourth generation of the Steeles to retire. David, along with his cousins, John Steele and Rick Steele, took this company from one location with 200 employees to ten locations worldwide, with 500-plus employees.
Over the course of his career, David has worked to manufacture machines that process hundreds of millions of tons of raw materials. If you built a house with brick in the U.S. or Australia during the last forty years, chances are good those bricks came out of our extruders.
David capped his career with the development and introduction of the Steele 120 AEX, our new extruder and pug sealer. The 120 Series defines the state of the art for heavy clay production quality and efficiency. David led the development of the world’s best stiff extrusion system and then made sure we’d keep making it better.
He’s also been active and engaged with the Statesville, North Carolina community throughout his adult life. David was a member of the committee that built the Gordon Hospice House, a state accredited and licensed care facility in Statesville. More recently, he served on the Iredell Memorial Hospital board of advisors. His retirement means he’ll have more time to spend with his family and serving his community.
We’re glad McCallie thinks David deserves recognition. He’s a wonderful man — kind, intelligent and unfailingly decent. He’s made lasting contributions in service to his community and the international stiff extrusion community, and we’re grateful for his leadership.
Please join us and McCallie in congratulating @davidsteele for a stellar career. We wish him a happy and fulfilling retirement, and we’re sure he’ll stay busy!