Big River Steel Makes Leadership Changes In Wake Of Correnti Death

Big River Steel disclosed a series of leadership appointments on Thursday in the wake of the unexpected death of its former chairman and CEO John Correnti.

Correnti, 68, passed away unexpectedly Tuesday on a business trip to Chicago.

Dan Murray, a current member of Big River Steel’s board of directors, was appointed chairman.

Jim Bell, construction manager at Big River Steel, was elected to the board of directors.

David Stickler, a current member of Big River Steel’s board of directors and its chief administrative officer, was named chief executive officer.

“John’s death came as a shock to the entire Big River Steel family,” said Stickler. “Our investors and board of directors moved rapidly to make these appointments so that we can continue the momentum in pushing forward John’s legacy of building a growth-focused company. Given the outstanding team of managers and operators John assembled, Big River Steel is well-positioned to not only complete the construction and start-up of our facility in Arkansas as scheduled, but to also pursue additional steel industry expansion opportunities as they arise.”

Big River Steel is constructing a $1.3 billion steel mill near Osceola in Northeast Arkansas. The steel factory is expected to open in July 2016.