William Hickey - Metal Center News

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MCN Service Center Executive of the YearBig Success, Small EgoBill Hickey,president ofLapham-HickeySteel in Chicago,personifies leadership,both of histhird-generationfamily business andthe service centerindustry at large.Exec of the Year Bill Hickey gives much credit forhis company’s success to key managers, including (flankingHickey from front to back) Jeff Hobson, vice president ofoperations and systems, Michele Summey, purchasing manager,Bob Piland, chief financial officer, and Dave Conrad,sales manager. (Photo by Marc Berlow)products for Edgar T. Ward’s service center company. Eachwas looking for something more. They found it through theFitzsimmons Bar Co., which was looking to sell its colddrawnbar depot in Chicago. The partners intended to openthe new service center business on Jan. 1, 1926, but foundthemselves short of funds. With the help of another minoritypartner, George Clifford, they opened Lapham-Hickey Steela month later.The company grew slowly through the early years. Bythe end of the Korean War, the Lapham Brothers had reachedretirement age and wanted out of the business. They soldtheir shares to the Hickey family, where son William hadjoined his father. The Clifford family maintained a sharethrough the 1970s, then sold its portion of the business. Buteven when the company fell under the sole ownership ofAt-a-GlanceLapham-Hickey Steel Corp.5500 W. 73rd St.Chicago, IL 60638Phone: 708-496-6111Fax: 708-496-8504Web site: www.lapham-hickey.comMMFounded: 1926MMLocations: Six in Chicago and Madison, Ill.,Oshkosh, Wis., Little Canada, Minn., Columbus, Ohio,Pawcatuck, Conn., and Fairfield, Ala.MMEmployees: 500+Metals Service Center Institute and other trade groups. Andhe has become an increasingly important voice in the policyarena, leading the industry’s appeal for a comprehensivedomestic manufacturing agenda and stronger enforcementof trade laws (see sidebar). But Hickey, in keeping with hismodest tradition, sees his role as more of a cog in the machinethan a driving force.Lapham-Hickey Steel was founded 86 years ago by hisgrandfather, Frank Hickey, and the Lapham brothers, Edwardand Burnham. His grandfather had been an executivewith Wisconsin Steel, while the Laphams were selling barMMProducts: Cold-Finish Bar, Hot-Roll Bars,Hot-Roll Structurals, Hot-Roll Plate/Sheet, G&P/ TG&P,Alloys, Coil/Sheet, Spring Steel, Mechanical Tubing, Aluminum/StainlessSteel, Steel Reference DataMMServices: Sawing, Stretch Leveling, Coil Processing,Slitting, Shearing, Edge Conditioning, Cut-to-Length, Oscillating, Laser Cutting, Plasma/Punch Plasma,Oxy Burning, Forming, Shot Blasting, Stress Relieving,Blanchard Grinding, Heat Treating, Weldingwww.metalcenternews.com Metal Center News — December 2012 ❘ 25
MCN Service Center Executive of the Yearthe Hickey family, the operation never stopped giving theLaphams top billing on the marquee.“It was my father’s idea because that was the brandname. That’s what we’d worked so long for, and that’s whatwe were recognizable for,” Bill Hickey says. “All of us, asindividuals, are replaceable.”That ego-free approach remains a guiding principle forHickey, who says his company’s success is the byproductof all its family members, not just the ones who share hislast name. “This award is a reflection of the great group ofpeople we have,” he says of becoming the 16th recipient ofMCN’s Executive of the Year honor. “The people here makethis place work. It certainly isn’t me.”His colleagues would vigorously dispute that assertion.“I can’t say enough about him; otherwise I wouldn’t havebeen here for 40 years,” says Jeff Hobson, the company’svice president of operations and systems. “He sets a directionthat we try to follow, but he’s always open to suggestions,ideas and thoughts. He allows us to do what wehave to do.”Bob Piland, the chief financial officer, has been withLapham-Hickey for 18 years, which makes him a “shorttimer”in an operation where the long-standing employeeis the norm. The 69-year-old steel industry veteran says heshould have retired several years ago, “but I just enjoy workingwith Bill. He’s very focused and very dedicated.”Though Hickey himself recently reached age 60, he remainsas committed to the job as ever, establishing a workethic that permeates throughout the organization. His sonBrian, one of three children who have joined the familybusiness, jokes that his father’s favorite hobby is Lapham-Hickey Steel. “I kid about it, but on weekends he will comeTireless ChampionBill Hickey discusses politics in his Chicago office, withLapham-Hickey’s original handwritten ledger from the1920s in the foreground. Hickey is a vocal advocate forgovernment policies that better support U.S. manufacturers.“There are only three ways of creating wealth—youmine, you manufacture or you grow,” Hickey says. “How weas a society don’t understand that manufacturing is a wayof creating wealth is beyond my comprehension.”For many Americans, the first Tuesday inNovember represented the welcome end to thepolitical campaigning that dominated much of thecalendar year. But for Bill Hickey, the cause doesn’t endwith the vote.For more than a decade, Hickey has been one of themetals distribution industry’s most prominent and effectivevoices, championing the need for free and fair trade,less cumbersome government regulation and a comprehensiveU.S. manufacturing policy. When he wasn’tdirecting his own business, Hickey spent much of his freetime this year speaking out on manufacturing’s behalf,primarily through the Metals Service Center Institute,Rolling Meadows, Ill. He was a regular speaker duringmany of MSCI’s Manufacturing Summits leading up to the2012 election.The topic of manufacturing is an issue that interestshim like few others. One of his primary activities awayfrom the office is reading about the domestic and globaleconomy. “There are only three ways of creating wealth– you mine, you manufacture or you grow,” Hickey says.“How we as a society don’t understand that manufacturingis a way of creating wealth is beyond my comprehension.”He has made it his mission to rectify that misunderstanding.But just as he does in business, he goes about thatduty thoughtfully, intelligently and respectfully.“He is the voice of reason, conviction and order,” says28 ❘ Metal Center News — December 2012 www.metalcenternews.com
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William Hickey - Metal Center News

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