A pioneer in the metal components indus- try, Tem McElroy has spent 43 years in the metal construction industry, growing his small family company into a national company that is celebrating its 50th an- niversary this year.
Growing the company McElroy received his undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech in physics, and his MBA from MIT. After working as a management consultant in Houston for three years, his father convinced him to move back to Shreveport, La., in 1970 and start working for the company he had started in 1963. At that time, the company was small, with only 50 employees. As executive vice president, McEl- roy worked in purchasing and sales in addition to installing the company’s fi rst computer system. Bossier City, La.-based McElroy Metal started
out primarily providing chicken house roofi ng and later added a pre-engineered building panel and purlins for the pre-engineered metal building industry. In 1975, McElroy took over as company president from his father. Shortly after, in 1976, he spearheaded the opening of McElroy Metal’s fi rst satellite manufacturing facility in Clinton, Ill., to enter a new market—providing light-gauge roofi ng and siding for post-frame buildings. Since then, the company has added new products and new plants, thus assuring steady growth. Today, the company operates 12 manufacturing facilities and 20 service centers across the United States. Over the years, McElroy Metal has also
grown by purchasing other companies such as Architectural Building Components, Houston, and Ontario, Calif.-based Met-Tile. The company is also a joint venture partner in Green Span Profiles, Houston. “We try to stay ahead of the market, and
we’re continuing to expand,” McElroy says. The company is continuing to grow its architectural division, and is building a new plant in Houston that will be doing a lot of retrofi t business.
Growing the industry McElroy was president of the Metal Building Component Manufacturers Association (MBM- CA) from 1981-1983. During this time, McElroy believed that group was too narrowly focused and championed the creation of a new associa- tion, the Metal Construction Association (MCA), which would have a broader membership to help expand the use of metal in the construc- tion industry. McElroy Metal was one of eight companies that provided the seed money to start the new association, and McElroy served on the first board of directors. Once the association was established for a
few years, the board decided to create a trade show specifi cally for the metal construction industry. MCA established METALCON Inter- national in 1989, and the fi rst show was held in 1991. “Having just attended the latest MET- ALCON, it was gratifying and heartening to see fi rst-hand the vision of our founding members to have an all-encompassing association and trade show that has focused on metal in construction remains vibrant and successful 30 years after its inception,” McElroy says.
A family man McElroy has been married for almost 50 years and has two children and four grandchildren. Six years ago, McElroy graduated to chairman of McElroy Metal, passing the president position on to his son Ian. His daughter and her family reside in San Antonio. In his spare time, McElroy enjoys fl ying, and
has been a pilot for 43 years, logging more than 6,000 hours. He also enjoys hiking, water skiing, snow skiing and travelling. McElroy stays busy by being involved in the Shreveport community, participating on non-profi t boards and as a chair- man of various organizations, such as the Com- munity Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier, Alliance for Education, Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana and Barksdale Forward.
“It's very exciting and
gratifying to witness the growth and increasing acceptance of metal wall and roof panels in
construction over the
past 40 years. The unifi ed efforts and visions of countless companies and individuals are responsible for that success.”
Tem McElroy
Grew the family business and helped create a new industry association
www.metalconstructionnews.com
November 2013 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS 23
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