Press Release
One of the first things Dirk Petersen does every day is figure out who has a birthday or significant employment anniversary.
As division manager of Nucor Cold Finis, Vulcraft and Nucor Detailing Center, Petersen seeks out those employees—teammates, as the company likes to call them—and congratulates them on their milestones.
“I feel it’s important to me to at least talk to each person once a year that way,” Petersen said. “There are a lot of people, so it averages two or three a day. I make it up for the weekends, too.”
While it may seem trivial to some, Petersen said it’s his job to stay connected to the 500 teammates he oversees.
“I spend a lot of time walking around, talking to people who work here,” he said.
And his work isn’t usually done when he leaves the office.
Petersen will take a couple of hours every night on in the morning over breakfast to answer the 60-80 e-mails he receives daily.
Petersen said that even though Nucor Steel is a large company—it’s the eighth largest steel company in the world—each division is run like a small company.
Each general manager runs each division based on the “Nucor Way.”
That principle is based on goals to be the safest, most productive and most profitable steel and steel products company in the world while also being cultural and environmental stewards, he said.
When Petersen took over the general manager position in May 2004, he had “big shoes to fill.”
Don Holloway retired as general manager after more than 25 years at the company and he deserves credit for making Nucor Cold Finish and Vulcraft two of the most successful divisions of the most successful divisions of Nucor, Petersen said.
“Don was responsible for starting Cold Finish at ground zero to making it into the largest cold finish division in the country. He’s the father of Nucor Cold Finish,” Petersen said. “I had the opportunity to come into a very well established division.”
In fact, Petersen worked for Holloway when he worked at Vulcraft as a sales engineer from 1979 to 1987.
“It’s been kind of fun because a lot of people I worked with in 1987 are still here,” he said, adding that 25 percent of the workforce have been with the company for 25 years or more.
Since his start in Norfolk, Petersen has also worked intensely with a new management team. With retirements and promotions, five new managers joined the team of nine.
“I spent a whole lot of time going through that process. I was very through because we wanted to make sure we picked the best possible leaders we can for positions we have,” he said.
Since the division does not have a human resources department, that aspect is handled by Petersen and the other managers.
The company has seen much growth even in the short time since Petersen rejoined the division as general manager, and later became vice president.
Even though Petersen works 60-70 hours a week, he said it doesn’t feel like much.
“As a matter of fact, I feel like I could work more, get more done,” he said.
In his spare time, Petersen likes to reconnect with family and friends.
He grew ups south of Wisner but was away working at Vulcraft and later Nucor Buildings in Indiana for 17 years.
“I was able to come back home, which is unusual,” he said. “That normally doesn’t happen.”
Petersen and his wife, Jan, have four children and four grandchildren.
- Story Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News
