Building a Great Company Quickly...

 

...requires starting with great people. Esmark has been built by a multi-disciplinary team of executive managers trained in operations, sales, strategy, finance, and engineering. Combined with an innovative, committed, and loyal work force, Esmark has a leg up in today's challenging human resource marketplace.

 

James P. Bouchard

The Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Esmark Incorporated (formerly NASDAQ: ESMK), James P. Bouchard (49), sets the vision, picks the team, and oversees purchasing, operations, sales, and partnership activity for the now privately held company. His experience and skill set blends domestic and international sales, operations, and strategic planning experience. In addition, Mr. Bouchard was formerly Chairman and CEO of Wheeling Pittsburgh Corporation (formerly NASDAQ:WPSC) and Esmark Incorporated. Jim, his brother Craig T. Bouchard, and the entire Esmark management Team successfully completed the first hostile tender/reverse merger in the history of the United States with the combination of Wheeling Pitt and Esmark in 2007.

 

Mr. Bouchard demonstrated his commitment to shareholder value with the successful sale of Esmark to OAO Severstal in August of 2008. Esmark was founded in 2003 at 25 cents per share, an enterprise value of $2 million, and revenue of $4 million. The company was ultimately sold for $19.25 per share, an enterprise value of $1.3 billion, and 2008 revenue run rate of $3 billion.

 

Prior to founding Esmark, Jim was Vice President-Commercial for U.S. Steel in Europe, residing in Kosice, Slovak Republic. He was a member of the executive team that U.S. Steel sent to Kosice before and after having acquired the Slovakian National Steel Company (VSZ). Jim is widely credited with the successful commercial restructuring, implementation, and subsequent growth strategy of the company's global and European sales, marketing, strategic planning, production planning, and customer service initiatives. Today, the Kosice operation is the most profitable steel asset owned by U.S. Steel.

 

Jim served on the Board of Directors of the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington DC and, through his 20 years of international and domestic experiences, Jim has developed a vast knowledge of the global OEM, service center, and trading network. He was ultimately accountable for the commercial operations of U.S. Steel in 42 countries. Jim formerly served on the C.D.E. committee for Eurofer in Brussels, Belgium. In addition, he was Chairman of the SSCI and AHAM supplier divisions of AISI-Washington, DC, and Board of Directors for Wheeling-Nisshan Steel Corporation and Ohio Coatings Corporation.

 

Mr. Bouchard is currently Chairman of the Board of Esmark Inc., the Bouchard Group, FC Pittsburgh, and a member of the Board of Trustees at Loyola University-Chicago. He also serves on the board of directors for the Imani Christian Academy, Quaker Valley Hockey Association, and the J. Kyle Braid Foundation.

 

Mr. Bouchard is the recipient of numerous industry and philanthropic awards for his accomplishments and contributions. In 2005 he was nominated and named as an Illinois Finalist of the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In March 2006 the Association of Steel Distributors bestowed their highest honor on him as "Steel Man of the Year." In 2007 he was inducted into the Hinsdale Central High School Hall of Fame, the youngest inductee in the history of the school. Mr. Bouchard was also honored by Loyola University as the 2007-08 recipient of the Chicago Damen Award for distinguished alumni. And in 2010 he was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary International for his humanitarian relief efforts during the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

 

 

Jim graduated from Loyola University's Chicago School of Business and holds United States patent 4,373,955 for inventing a lightweight insulating concrete.