Kirk J. Lewis, a Black executive in the steel industry, leads multiple steel firms, including being Chairman and President of Blue Springs Metals, LLC, Georgetown Metal Processing, LLC and Madison Metal Processing, LLC.
Blue Springs Metals, which is headquartered in Northeast Mississippi, supplies steel products to the Automotive and the Oil and Gas Industry. What is more, the company has annual sales of $160 million. Georgetown Metal Processing, which is headquartered in Northeast Mississippi with a plant in Northern Kentucky, has annual sales of $210 million. It supplies aluminum and steel products to the automotive industry while Madison Metal Processing is a supplier of steel products to the automotive Industry. Madison is headquartered in Alabama and will have annual sales of $100 million, according to a statement released recently.
Lewis started his career as a staff accountant for a major accounting firm in 1984. He also worked in finance and budgeting at a major domestic automaker’s credit arm for seven years and progressed through the ranks, becoming a registered investment professional for the credit arm of this same Automotive OEM.
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In 1994, he joined a Tier 1 Automotive Supplier, as the Director of Finance and was later promoted to Chief Financial Officer and then became Chief Executive Officer and Partner. Also, Lewis served as President of a joint venture with a Global multi-billion dollar Tier-1 automotive supplier.
As an executive in the automotive industry, he brought his wide experience to bear when the sector was challenged. When there was a decline in automotive sales, he was responsible for restructuring the operations and finances of the Tier 1 automotive supplier where he served as the Chief Executive Officer.
When he saw a gap in the supply of steel to the automotive as well as the oil and gas sectors, he decided to fill the supply gap. This led him to found Blue Springs Metals in 2003, according to Billionaires.Africa. He would later expand his steel empire with Georgetown Metal Processing in 2007 and Madison Metal Processing in 2014.
Lewis has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Michigan State University. He also has a master’s degree in finance from Wayne State University.
Besides business, Lewis was Deputy Mayor/Chief of Staff for the City of Detroit, serving under Mayor Dave Bing. Before that, he served as Chief Governmental and Corporate Affairs Officer under Mayor Bing. What is more, he was also responsible for the City of Detroit’s Department of Health and the Department of Human Services.
