Jerry Kowalzek

Maintenance Manager, Minneapolis, MN

Found his talent. Showed his interest. Built an achievement-filled 50+ year career.

When Joe Casey joined Integrity Stainless as an Inventory Control Supervisor, he already knew a lot about Olympic Steel. That’s because his wife, sister and father all have worked for the organization at one time or another over the years. He saw the great careers his family members were able to build with the company, and he wanted in.

Jerry Kowalzek has seen and done just about everything in his 50 years at Olympic Steel. From his first post in 1969 as a Warehouseman to running “the Rowe” to repairing machinery, Jerry is a true “jack of all trades.” In 1997, he helped build Olympic Steel’s Bettendorf, Iowa division from a cornfield into a 190,000 square foot manufacturing facility. And when the Washington facilities closed in early 2019, Jerry drove 1,500 miles across the country in the middle of winter pulling a trailer filled with hand tools, compressors and other equipment back to Minneapolis. He redefines “above and beyond.”

The fact is: Jerry originally planned to stay at Olympic Steel for only three months. As his compensation and responsibilities continued to increase, he realized it was a better job than his brother’s tree trimming business. 50 years later, he’s still going strong (and doing tree trimming on the side).


Jerry’s recipe for success is simple: “Find your talent, show your interest and use your achievements to get people to invest in you.”

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