The top job at longtime Detroit area auto supplier Kenwal Steel will stay in the Eisenberg family.
Stephen Eisenberg is the new chairman and CEO of the full-service steel service center company, effective Nov. 12. Eisenberg takes over for his father, Kenneth Eisenberg, 78, who is retiring after leading Kenwal for 50 years.
Stephen Eisenberg, 53, who served as president of the company from 1992 until taking the chair and CEO posts, is the third Eisenberg to lead the company and is now the majority shareholder of the privately held company based in Dearborn, Mich. Sol Eisenberg, Stephen's grandfather, founded the company in 1947.
Kenwal Steel operates steel service centers, providing a variety of grades and types of flat-rolled steel products to customers in the automotive and manufacturing industries. Kenwal also operates out of Burns Harbor, Ind., and Lebanon, Tenn. The company has other offices in Canada and Mexico.
Kenwal Steel operates a network of seven steel slitting lines and a high-volume pickling line, used to remove impurities, rust and scale from the surface of the material, with in-line tension leveling. The company in 2019 posted $930 million in revenue, down from $1.05 billion in 2018.
Stephen Eisenberg, who has a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from the University of Michigan and an MBA in finance from New York University, took over the company's Gary, Ind., facility in 1996, helping triple the facility's sales over the next five years. That led to the opening of the Burns Harbor service center in 2004.
Kenneth Eisenberg, stepping away from the business completely, believes his son is the right person to lead the company going forward.
"(Stephen) has more than demonstrated to our customers and partners his considerable skill for sourcing the highest-quality steel with unparalleled customer service," he said in the release.
