In
Stephen Lewis
Profile
Steve Lewis came to WVU thinking he would be a Mechanical Engineer, but the first ME course (Mechanical Drawing) convinced him that he needed to find another major. He chose Industrial Engineering because he liked the business side of the major.
While in college, Steve had an internship at Union Carbide. He had a chance to return there full-time when he graduated, but chose to work for Western Electric in North Carolina. “I worked in a plant that employed 4,000 people involved in the ABM program.” As the US/USSR signed peace agreements, the ABM work was greatly diminished. Steve was moved to Richmond, VA to work at a telephone electronics plant. “We had a surplus of people,” Steve says. “I decided to change jobs.”
While he was in North Carolina, he obtained a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at North Carolina State University. When he was finishing his degree, he had to take an oral exam. After answering a few questions, one of the examiners said to him: “You must have come from a very good undergraduate program.”
Steve’s next move was to Emerson Electric. He was asked to determine the best site for two new plants to make heating elements for electronic products (one was Mr. Coffee). Once the plant sites were determined, Steve’s boss asked him to move to one of the plants in Utah as the Chief Industrial Engineer.
Steve’s next move was working for Consolidated Aluminum. In a nearly 2 decade career at Consolidated, Steve worked as an IE, Assistant Controller, Project Manager, and Production Control Manager.
When the aluminum industry faced a decline, Steve joined BHP Steel, the largest company in Australia. They were building a new steel mill in Washington state and Steve was part of the team that got the plant up and running.
Steve wanted to move back east and worked for a short time with a British window company. The British wanted to divest itself of the business, so Steve decided to take a job with Croft LLC, one of America’s largest window producers located in McComb, MS. At Croft, Steve is responsible for managing all phases of manufacturing. The original founder of Croft gave the company to a foundation upon his death, so Steve’s job is one of ensuring the company stays healthy so the Foundation can continue its work.
When you think about Steve’s career, you have to be impressed by the number of significant once-in-a-career opportunities he has had.
Bio
Stephen Lewis VP – Director of Operations at Croft, LLC.
Experience
VP – Director of Operations at Croft, LLC.
June 2000 – Present
Direct the Manufacturing, Engineering, Purchasing and Information Services
Manager of Logistics and Production Planning at BHP Steel November
1996 – November 1998 (2 years 1 month)
Handle all raw material purchases, transportation, and production scheduling for the BHP Steel America
Production Planning Manager
December 1977 – November 1996 (19 years)
Education
North Carolina State University MSIE, Industrial Engineering, 1971 – 1975
West Virginia University BSIE, Industrial Engineering, 1966 – 1970
St. Joseph High School High School, 1963 – 1966
Texas Tech University
