Four new recipients of the Junior Achievement Evansville Area Business Hall of Fame have left their mark on the local banking, economic development, production and steel communities.
The active recipients for 2022 are Mark Schroeder, retired chairman and CEO of Deutsche American Bank, and Greg Watson, retired co-CEO and president of the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership.
This year’s historic honorees are the late William McCurdy, owner and founder of the Hercules Buggy Company, and James Bridwell Igleheart, President and Chairman of International Steel Corporation.
“We have an incredible slate of nominees, which makes the selection process very challenging,” said Ronald Rochon, president of USI and co-chair of this year’s recipient selection committee. “The 2023 inductees are well deserved and showcase our Talent and leadership in this community.”
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Winners will be inaugurated on May 9th at 8:00 am at the Old National Events Plaza. The event was a fundraiser for Junior Achievement of Southwest Indiana.
Individuals are nominated for outstanding civic and business contributions to the Southwest Indiana region and are recognized for business excellence, courageous thinking and action, inspirational leadership and sense of community.
“During the selection process, I was struck by the number of trailblazers and influential individuals from the region, both recent and historical,” Rochon said. “In most cases, the nominees don’t know the magnitude of their impact, which is why the Evansville Area Business Hall of Fame Youth Achievement is so important.”
About this year’s four winners:
Mark Schroeder
Schroeder has been with German American for over 40 years, starting his career as a treasury attendant and working his way up the ranks of the company.
Before becoming Chairman and CEO, he held various other leadership roles at German American, including Lending Director, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. The German-American has made tremendous strides throughout Schroeder’s career, thanks in large part to his guidance and vision. German American has grown from a small regional bank to its current market leader throughout southern Indiana and a respected industry leader in the state and nationally. German American operates 51 bank offices in 19 contiguous counties in southern Indiana and one county in Kentucky.
Greg Watson
Before merging with the Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Wathen was President and CEO of the Southwest Indiana Economic Development Alliance, in which Wathen was instrumental. Since the founding of the Economic Development Alliance in 2007, Wathen has been involved in successful economic development projects that have created 4,213 new jobs and invested more than $3.3 billion in southwestern Indiana.
Under his leadership, every dollar invested by the coalition generated $313 in returns within the community. Wathen’s success began in an unconventional way. He helped save key engineering talent from Whirlpool’s closure on his first day at the Coalition. That has helped guide projects such as global home appliance giant Haier USA to locate its first R&D technology center in Evansville. The result is a $5 million investment, 50 high-paying jobs and the renovation of an iconic building in the Downtown Design District in the heart of Evansville.
William McCurdy (1853-1930)
McCurdy came to Evansville from Cincinnati in 1902 to build and operate an off-road vehicle factory. It appears he was drawn to Evansville by two main considerations. He bought most of his materials from Evansville, which was expensive to ship to Cincinnati, and Evansville had somewhat lower wage rates than Cincinnati. Additionally, Evansville has a workforce that is skilled in carpentry. He purchased property at the junction of Morton Avenue and the Southern Railroad and built his factory there.
His Evansville factory produced 84,000 baby carriages, 62,000 gas engines and 40,000 truck and car bodies. With 1,500 employees, it is the largest factory in town. He is a manufacturer of nationally recognized ability. When President Woodrow Wilson appointed him to the National Defense Association in 1916, he was one of the few laymen in the organization.
James Bridwell Eaglehart (1922-2007)
International Steel became one of Evansville’s most iconic and successful businesses during Igleheart’s 33-year tenure. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Igleheart completed U.S. Steel’s executive training program. Returning to his hometown of Evansville in 1948, he joined International Steel and worked his way up the ranks.
Under his leadership, the company became a top structural steel manufacturer and the world’s leading producer of revolving doors. The Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower), completed in 1973, was one of the buildings for which International Steel Corporation supplied the revolving doors. The company’s steel was also a factor in the Cold War, and they had a Lindsay Structure shielded room at the US embassy in Moscow to stop sound and radio waves from being intercepted by other countries. Igleheart served on the founding committee of Junior Achievement in Southwest Indiana and was the first lay chair of the Mayor’s Human Relations Council – a position he held to support causes of diversity and equality in the workplace,