NEW State of Steel Conference

LOURENÇO GONÇALVES has worked in the steel and metals business for more than 25 years, in the United States and in Brazil.

He started his career in 1981 with CSN, in Brazil, as a Research & Development engineer in the areas of BOF Steelmaking and Continuous Casting. With CSN, Mr. Gonçalves worked in several capacities, both in operations and in sales. As the General Superintendent of CSN’s 5 million metric tons per year steel plant, Mr. Gonçalves played a key role in the transformation of CSN from a state-owned steel mill into one of the most respected steel companies in the world. Mr. Gonçalves left CSN in 1998 as a Managing Director, in charge of Production and Sales, and moved to the United States to become President and C.E.O. of California Steel Industries (CSI), in Fontana, California. Mr. Gonçalves stayed five years with CSI.

In February 2003, Mr. Gonçalves came to Metals USA to lead the company as its C.E.O. Since then, Metals USA has transformed itself into one of the most powerful and profitable Service Center companies of the United States. In November 2005, after an appreciation of Metals USA stock price of more than 700% in just two years, Mr. Gonçalves took the company private with Apollo Management, a private equity fund headquartered in New York City. Mr. Gonçalves is the Chairman of the Board, President and C.E.O. of Metals USA Holdings Corporation.

Mr. Gonçalves has a Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Military Institute of Engineering, in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil, and a M.Sc. degree in Metallurgy from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, in Belo Horizonte – Brazil.

James Barnett has been in the steel distribution industry for over 40 years. Starting in his teens as a USW member at Republic Steel Corporation, Barnett has held various staff positions in production and sales at several steel distributorships in the Detroit area. After graduating from The Defiance College with a B.S. in Business, Barnett attended Graduate school only to be interrupted by a stint in the Army during the Vietnam era. After serving his country, he joined his brother Stuart in establishing Lawndale Steel Corporation , a multi-plant flat-rolled steel distribution business headquartered in Chicago, IL. When the Detroit Division of Lawndale was acquired by Heidtman Steel Products in 1989, Barnett established and ran a Tandem Rolled Products Division of Heidtman for 5 years before starting Grand Steel Products, Inc. in 1995. This business was founded as Internet transactions were just starting to help transform business in the steel industry. Seizing on the new “transparency” in the industry and decades in steel distribution, Grand Steel quickly grew in size and today distributes flat rolled products all over North America. In December of 2008, Grand Steel moved into their current warehouse /office facility in Wixom, MI.

Barnett is also Executive Vice President of The Association of Steel Distributors, a national trade organization of 125 member Companies that consist of Steel Mills, Distributors, Service Centers, Processors and others who use this Association as a networking platform to expand and enhance member businesses. He also is on the Executive Committee and is Chairman of the long-range planning committee. He has also been a guest speaker at meetings of other associations within the Steel community and has been quoted in several articles appearing in National and International periodicals.

Steven Bergman has served the steel industry for the past 35 years. As a Queens College graduate in 1974, he took a position with Associated Metals and Minerals Corporation in New York City. Associated Metals was a leading steel trading group with offices around the globe. They exclusively represented some of the world’s leading steel producers like Nippon Steel, Posco, Rautaruukki and Saltzgitter. By 1989, he had become Senior Vice President and a major trader in North American Steel Products, overseeing over five million tons of steel imports per year.

In 1990, with two partners, Mr. Bergman formed Satramet located in Greenwich, Connecticut. Over the next two years, Satramet became the first trading company to import Russian Hot Rolled Steel Coil into the United States, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

In 1992, Mr. Bergman formed Premier Steel. For the first ten years the company had two divisions:

The first was to develop a Steel Distribution Service Center based on the processing of Domestically produced Hot Rolled Band into Sheet, Bar, and Strip. Partnering with Ferrous Metal Processing in Cleveland, Ohio, Premier Steel currently maintains a large Hot Rolled Steel Coil inventory which can be further value-added into Pickled and Oiled, or Cold Rolled products based upon customer needs.

The second division of Premier Steel, sold in 2003, exclusively represented Rautaruukki Shipbuilding Profiler. Premier developed and marketed shipbuilding profiles not produced in the USA, and helped revive the commercial U.S. shipbuilding industry.

Mr. Bergman has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Steel Distributors since 1993, and was named President of the Association in 2004. In 2006, he was named Steel Man of the Year by the Association of Steel Distributors.

John Campo joined O’Neal Steel , Inc. in May 2007 as Vice President –Sales & Marketing. Prior to joining O’Neal served as Vice President –Sales, Plate and Tubular Products at Jindal United Steel in Houston , TX and Executive Vice President –Commercial of Corus Tuscaloosa, a producer of carbon plate and hot rolled coil products in Tuscaloosa , AL. He began his career in 1976 with Lukens Steel Company in Coatesville , Pa. and held several positions on increasing responsibility in sales and marketing prior to joining Corus in 1993.

John is a graduate of LaSalle College , Philadelphia, PA and received his MBA from Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. He is a commissioned Naval Officer, a Vietnam Veteran and retired from the United States Naval Reserve with the Rank of Captain.

John is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association of Tuscaloosa County and as served as a member of the Board of Directors with several industry trade associations including the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) and the Steel Plate Fabricators Association (SPFA).

Corinna Petry is a steel correspondent for American Metal Market, and has covered the metals industry for most of the past 13 years. She joined AMM in 1995 as a steel reporter and then joined Metal Center News magazine in 1998 as managing editor, where she remained through October 2005. She spent two years covering the banking and credit markets for Sourcemedia Inc. in Chicago, then rejoined AMM in June 2008.

She has her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois.

David Brooks is currently Senior Vice President of American Metal Market. Previously, he was Deputy Editor of AMM and worked for AMM and sister publication Metal Bulletin in both London and New York.

Brooks, who started his career as a metals reporter in 1998, oversees AMM and AMM Events' day-to-day operations.

Dan DiMicco is President and Chief Executive Officer of Nucor Corporation and Chairman of Nucor’s Board of Directors. Dan also serves on the Board of Directors for Duke Energy Corporation, the American Iron and Steel Institute, and the World Steel Association. Dan has also been elected to the Executive Committee for the World Steel Association and serves on the U. S. Manufacturing Council for the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Dan joined Nucor Corporation in November 1982 as Plant Metallurgist and Manager of Quality Control for Nucor Steel in Plymouth, Utah and in January 1988, he became Melting and Casting Manager at the Utah division. In March 1991, Dan became General Manager of the Nucor-Yamato joint venture in Blytheville, Arkansas and became Vice President in January 1992. He became Executive Vice President in September 1999. He became President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors in September 2000. He was elected Vice Chairman in June 2001 and Chairman in May 2006.

Prior to joining Nucor Corporation, Dan was with Republic Steel Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio as Research Metallurgist and Project Leader. Dan was with Republic Steel from March 1975 until he joined Nucor in November 1982.

Dan graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials Science. Dan graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1975.

Nucor and affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; light gauge steel framing; steel grating and expanded metal; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.

Scott Robertson is the Chief Correspondent, Steel for AMM and has been with the publication since 1994, covering both the stainless and carbon steel industries.

Robertson has been a reporter in and around the Pittsburgh area for almost 25 years, including stints with the Tribune-Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Business Times. His work also has appeared in The New York Times, the Dallas Morning News and the Edmonton Journal, among others. A winner of Pennsylvania journalism's Golden Quill and Keystone Press awards, he has also worked as a radio host with several Pittsburgh area business programs.

Robertson is a graduate of Waynesburg (PA) College.

Mario Longhi was appointed as President of Gerdau Ameristeel in June 2005 and as Chief Executive Officer of Gerdau Ameristeel in January 2006, replacing Mr. Casey and has been a director of Gerdau Ameristeel since 2007. Mr. Longhi has also been a Vice President of Gerdau S.A. and a member of the Executive Committee of Gerdau S.A. since June 2005.

Mr. Longhi joined Gerdau Ameristeel as President following a 23-year international career with the executive team of Alcoa Inc. Prior to his appointment at Gerdau Ameristeel, he held various positions with Alcoa and served most recently as Executive Vice President, President of the Extrusions and End Products Group.

Mr. Longhi received Bachelor and Masters degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Technology Maua, Brazil.

Overview:

John Anton is manager of Global Insight’s Steel Service and the ferrous metals industry analyst for the firm’s Cost Information Service. The outlook for steel production is formed by close monitoring of the industry and contact with executives at steel makers and end users. In addition to producing regular forecasts of steel production, demand and price, Mr. Anton is also responsible for managing Global Insight’s relationship with major steel clients, including the some of the largest mills in the United States, Japan, and Europe.

Anton’s specific issues and areas of expertise include:

• Supply, demand, and prices of a broad range of steel product grades and end markets

• The effects of higher steel prices on downstream supply chains

• Steel industry consolidation, and the impact on supply and prices

• The growing internationalization of steel producers and consumers

• The effects of trade actions and tariffs on the steel industry

Professional and Educational Background:

Mr. Anton joined Global Insight in 1995. Prior to that time, he was in the private practice of law, specializing in small business representation and in criminal defense work. Before attending law school, Mr. Anton worked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics as an Economist/Statistician.

He received a B.S. in economics from the Florida State University and a J.D. from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary.

Public Profile:

In addition to his work with Global Insight clients, Mr. Anton regularly provides steel industry analysis to magazines and dailies such as Purchasing Magazine, Investor’s Business Daily, American Metal Market, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bloomberg, and Engineering News Record.

Ms. Applebaum spent over 20 years at Salomon Brothers, in New York and Chicago.

During her years on Wall Street, Ms. Applebaum was the top-rated steel industry analyst

according to the prestigious Institutional Investor All-Star poll for a dozen years. During

that time she served as an advisor to the country’s largest money managers and

worked as part of the investment banking team advising corporations on over 2-dozen

initial and secondary public offerings, mergers and acquisitions.

Ms. Applebaum is regularly quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and

The New York Times. She makes frequent appearances on business programs of

CNN and CNBC, and was a featured guest on Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser.

Ms. Applebaum has a BS in Economics from Northwestern University and a MBA in

Accounting and Finance from the Kellogg School of Business. She currently lives in

Chicago with her husband, 3 children and 2 dogs.

Tony has 20 years of strategy consulting experience, mostly in the steel industry. He has worked with senior management teams, chief executive officers, and boards of directors to improve business performance through the development and implementation of competitive strategy, both at the business unit and corporate level. Although his client base is predominately North American, he has also worked with companies in Europe, South America and Asia. In addition to his work with senior managers of operating companies, Tony has acted as an advisor to private equity funds, hedge funds, unions, and governments.

Tony has a MA in Economics from Duke University, Durham, NC, USA and a BA in Economics from Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, PA.

Jo Isenberg-O'Loughlin is a career-long trade journalist, editor and writer, who has spent more than three decades covering the steel, nonferrous metals and other process industries. In her current position as editor, Jo oversees the daily operation of American Metal Market, a division of Metal Bulletin plc and recognized "bible" of the North American steel, nonferrous and scrap industries.

Prior to joining AMM in March 2000, Jo held a variety of positions with major U.S. publishers including McGraw-Hill and Penton Media Inc. and has worked in a freelance capacity with organizations ranging from the American Management Association and the National Association of Manufacturers to the Japan Steel Information Center. She has served as editor in chief and a contributing editor of 33 Metal Producing and written for publications ranging from Business Week and Buyside to corporate newsletters for clients including Union Carbide, Verizon, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Jo is the recipient of several Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards presented by American Business Media for editorial excellence.

David Spooner is the Of Counsel for Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. in the Antitrust, Compeittion, Trade and Regulatory Practice Group. He was the former Assistant Secretary of Commerce to Import Administration, and was responsible for leading the Import Administration in its efforts to enforce trade laws and agreements to protect U.S. businesses from unfair pricing by foreign companies and unfair subsidies to foreign companies by their governments. Prior to his confirmation, Assistant Secretary Spooner served as the U.S. Government Textile Negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Before his appointment to USTR by President Bush, Mr. Spooner worked on Capitol Hill for a number of years. He managed the Washington office and served as the Legislative Director and Press Secretary for Representative Sue Myrick of North Carolina and as an Associate Staff member of the House Committee on Rules. Prior to his tenure with Congresswoman Myrick, Mr. Spooner served as the Communications Director for the House Committee on Agriculture. In the 104th Congress, Mr. Spooner was the Legislative Counsel for Representative Wes Cooley of Oregon.

Mr. Spooner attended the University of Virginia for his undergraduate degree and went to law school at the College of William & Mary. He and his family reside in Arlington, Virginia.

Charles Steindel is a Senior Vice President in the Research and Statistics Group. He oversees the Research Support Function and the Group's day-to-day analysis of U.S. economic conditions. His research interests include consumer spending and saving and productivity growth. He has served as president of the Money Marketeers of New York University, the Forecasters Club of New York, and the New York Association for Business Economics, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics. He received his bachelor's degree from Emory University and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sami Achkar has 20 years of experience in operation management, business development and directing engineering, procurement and construction services to the domestic and international metals industries. Sami spent most of his career working for CH2M HILL , starting as a senior project manager, and has directed many projects in the metal industry in the US and internationally. He presently oversees the global metal sector, including market development and project implementation.

Sami earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. He is a member of the Association of Iron and Steel Technology, American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Concrete Institute.

Mr. King W. Gee leads the Infrastructure Unit of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). FHWA is one of eleven modal agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation. FHWA administers an annual Federal-aid highway program of over $40 billion and works in partnership with the States and local governments to maintain the effectiveness, safety, and efficiency of the nation’s roads and bridges. The Infrastructure Unit is responsible for providing agency leadership on the administration of the Federal-aid highway program, on the core engineering disciplines dealing with roads and bridges, on infrastructure asset management, and the Highways for LIFE pilot program. Since assuming his current assignment, Mr. Gee has defined and guided FHWA’s oversight of Major Projects, advanced asset management and infrastructure preservation efforts, promoted faster, safer & longer lasting construction methods and materials, and advocated the context sensitive approach to transportation solutions. .

Prior to assuming his current assignment in February 2001, Mr. Gee was the Director of the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of International Programs. In this position, he was responsible for the direction and overall coordination of all international activities of the agency. The primary purposes of such international efforts are technological exchange, technical assistance, and promotion of U.S. technology.

From January 2000 to January 2001, Mr. Gee also served as Acting Director of Policy. In this position, he was responsible for providing leadership for the four FHWA offices that provide policy support and assistance to the agency, the Department of Transportation, and the Congress on policy development and execution, policy information, and international programs related to highways and highway transportation.

From January 1994 to March 1996, Mr. Gee was the Deputy Regional Administrator for the Federal Highway Administration's mid-Atlantic region (formerly Region 3) that included Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. One of the major responsibilities of that office was oversight of the implementation of the Federal-aid highway program in the region under the Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).

Before going to the Mid-Atlantic regional office, Mr. Gee was the Special Assistant to the Executive Director in the Office of the Federal Highway Administrator. During his time there, he worked in a number of cross-cutting areas, including particularly the rapidly expanding research, development, and technology programs of the agency. Earlier, Mr. Gee's career with the FHWA was focused on technology transfer - encouraging the highway community, domestically and internationally, to understand and adopt new technologies for improving the methods and materials for planning, designing, constructing and managing highway transportation systems.

A native of New York City, Mr. Gee is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, New York) where he received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Engineering degree, both in Civil Engineering (Transportation).

Mr. Gee has received a number of performance awards including the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals for Exceptional, Meritorious and Superior Achievement, and twice the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award.

Stan L. Hasselbusch is President and CEO of Pittsburgh PA based L.B. Foster Company. L.B. Foster Company is a leading manufacturer, fabricator and distributor of products for rail, construction, utility and energy industries and provides engineered solutions for North America’s infrastructure.

Born and raised in Iowa, Stan graduated from the University of Dubuque with a B.S. Degree in Business Administration in 1970. Stan has spent his entire career working for L.B. Foster. He started with the company as a sales trainee and steadily progressed through a number of sales, sales management and product management functions in various L.B. Foster district sales offices. He moved to Pittsburgh in 1993 as National Sales Manager before becoming Sr. Vice President -- Construction Products in 1995. He advanced to Sr. Vice President – Construction and Tubular Products in 1996, a position he held until 1998 when he was named Executive Vice President and COO. He became President and COO of L.B. Foster in 2000. Two years later he was named President and CEO.

Stan resides in Wexford with his wife Patti. He has three children, Erich, Kevin and Ana.

Stan enjoys hiking, biking and playing basketball with his children. He is also active in the community as a member of the Board of Directors for ABOARD and is involved with Pittsburgh Care and the United Way Leadership Giving Committee.

After graduating with a degree in economics and finance from the London School of Economics in 1991, Raju Daswani began his career in metals by taking up a market analyst position at Alcan's European operations in the UK. He joined the Metal Bulletin Group in 1995 and was initially in charge of all its research and analysis on the

aluminum markets. During 1998 to 2002 Raju was stationed in New York - during which time Metal Bulletin acquired AMM. Raju moved back to London in 2002 and went on to head the Company's steel and base metals'

research operation, MBR. More recently Raju has been appointed Global Publisher for the Group's Metals, Mining & Minerals Division, which incorporates the world's two leading metal publications - AMM and Metal Bulletin. Raju is responsible for over 130 staff in several offices located in the USA, Europe, and Asia.

Robert J. Risser, Jr., P.E.

Robert J. Risser is currently President and CEO of the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, a position he has held since 2006.

Mr. Risser has more than 20 years experience in the concrete industry. Prior to joining CRSI, he served for more than 10 years as Executive Director of the Michigan Concrete Paving Association.

He also as Engineering Editor with the Aberdeen Group, publisher of Concrete Construction magazine and sponsor of the World of Concrete trade shows.

KENNETH D. SIMONSON has been chief economist for the Associated General

Contractors of America since 2001. He has 35 years of experience analyzing,

advocating and communicating about economic and tax issues, including 13 years as vice president and chief economist of the American Trucking Association. He also worked on the President’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Ken was recently appointed to the Blue Ribbon Panel of experts advising the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. Ken is a board

member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and is author of “Digging into Construction Data.” He has co-chaired the Tax Economists Forum and is vice president of Community Tax Aid. Ken

is also a board member of the National Tax Association. He has a B.A. from the

University of Chicago, where he majored in economics, and an M.A. in economics from Northwestern University.

Corinna Petry is a steel correspondent for American Metal Market, and has covered the metals industry for most of the past 13 years. She joined AMM in 1995 as a steel reporter and then joined Metal Center News magazine in 1998 as managing editor, where she remained through October 2005. She spent two years covering the banking and credit markets for Sourcemedia Inc. in Chicago, then rejoined AMM in June 2008.

She has her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois.

As a member of Fellon-McCord’s executive team, Mr. Habacivch serves as editor-in-chief of

Fellon-McCord publications and head of research, and works with a team of energy analysts

in evaluating and advising on energy markets and risk to Fellon-McCord’s clients throughout

North America.

Mr. Habacivch brings 20 years of experience in the energy industry to the team. Prior

to joining Fellon-McCord, Mr. Habacivch served as director of business development for

Allegheny Energy Solutions. Mr. Habacivch also served as manager, natural gas and

integrated marketing with the New Hampshire-based Sprague Energy Corp, a privately held

energy marketing, petroleum and industrial-materials handling company. During his 10-year

tenure at Sprague, Mr. Habacivch was responsible for the development of industrial-account

natural gas marketing, major accounts, and was engaged in various aspects of power, liquid

fuel marketing, project development, and acquisitions. Mr. Habacivch began his industry

career as Senior Associate Editor for Gas Daily and Gas Markets Week, two nationally

recognized natural gas-industry publications. In his position with Gas Daily and Gas Markets

Week, Mr. Habacivch was responsible for the daily, weekly, and monthly gas-price indices,

coverage of the natural gas spot market, regulatory matters, and editorial content.

Mr. Habacivch studied liberal arts at the Pennsylvania State University and history at the

University of South Carolina.

Rick Preckel is a Principal with Preston Publishing Company. He has a BS in accounting and is a graduate of the University of Missouri. Prior to acquiring Preston Publishing Company, Rick’s 21 years in the pipe and tube industry were focused on the manufacturing sector. Rick’s roles included VP Business Development and Investor Relations, VP Shared Services, VP Canadian Operations and CEO – Canada, and various other management positions. His areas of expertise include: accounting, finance, marketing, supply chain, human resources, information technology, logistics, green-field and brown-field business development, acquisitions and divestitures, investor relations, strategy and expansion and overall business management.

A native of Hayesville, NC, Wes manages commercial and technical programs designed to meet specific needs of the steel industry with solutions created from GE’s Energy, Water, and Oil & Gas portfolio. Wes manages a global team of sales, application engineers, and marketing professionals that are focusing on delivering high efficiency and carbon friendly solutions to steel customers.

Prior to GE, Wes served as the Chief Engineer onboard a fast attack nuclear submarine in San Diego, California. Wes received a BS in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and will soon complete his MBA from Emory University.

Wes currently resides in Atlanta with his wife and two children.

Michael Cowden covers the automotive sector and steel long products for American Metal Market. He has also worked at the Associated Press in Pittsburgh and at the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Chicago. He has also worked as a copy editor and in promotions at the University of Chicago Press.

Kim Korth is President and owner of IRN, Inc., a well-known consulting firm specializing in strategic advisory services to middle market manufacturing. She founded IRN in 1983 and has spearheaded its growth into a leading consulting firm for global automotive suppliers. Kim earned a B.A. from Western Michigan University in 1977 and an M.I.M. from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in 1980. She also spent her junior year in college at the University of Wales in the United Kingdom in 1975-6.

Her work has centered on helping suppliers understand the dynamics and structure of their industry, and how they should position themselves to compete in an increasingly volatile worldwide market. Her primary role has been in management consulting and planning, guiding companies to establish sustainable strategies for growth and improved financial performance.

Consistently ranked one of the top speakers in the industry, her views on middle market manufacturers are frequently quoted in major publications. She has traveled extensively in the past few years as a featured speaker at numerous domestic and international conferences, including strategy workshops in Europe and North America, as well as keynote addresses for various financial institutions and trade associations (e.g., PMA, SAE, TMA, IFI, etc.).

Kim has been an active participant in industry since 1980, beginning her career at Prince Corporation, now a part of Johnson Controls. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Shape Corporation, Burke E. Porter Machinery Company, Unwired Technology LLC, Stoneridge Inc., Contech LLC, and the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA).

IRN’s primary focus is to strengthen the competitive position of their clients. With fifteen staff members, IRN provides ongoing market intelligence and strategic support to over 200 firms.

Daniel N. Sharkey is a shareholder practicing in Butzel Long’s Bloomfield Hills office. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (B.B.A., cum laude, 1992) and Vanderbilt University School of Law (J.D., 1995). He was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1995.

Mr. Sharkey concentrates his practice in commercial and contract litigation. He has additional significant experience in litigation involving manufacturing supply chains, class actions, construction, environmental, franchises and dealerships, insurance coverage, products liability, corporate compliance and internal investigations, securities, creditors' rights, real property, and sales representative commissions. He has tried more than 40 cases in U.S. District, Magistrate, Bankruptcy, and Military Courts, and Michigan State Courts, and represented parties before more than 20 administrative boards.

Prior to joining Butzel Long, Mr. Sharkey was a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized), where he served as a Trial Counsel and Special Assistant United States Attorney.

Mr. Sharkey was voted Top 10 Speaker of the Decade by Original Equipment Suppliers Association. He has presented: “Supply Contracts and Raw Material Cost Issues,” Industrial Fasteners Institute Annual Meeting, September 2008, Greensboro, Georgia; “Increasing Profitability Through Proactive Contract Management,” Precision Metalforming Association CFO Roundtable, August 2008, Cleveland, Ohio; “The Raw Material Cost Crisis of 2008 – Not Again! A Legal Perspective,” OESA Chief Purchasing Officers Council, July 2008, Troy, Michigan; “Automotive Supply Contracts: an Overview,” Industrial Fasteners Institute Automotive Division, May 2008, Birmingham, Michigan; “Chrysler [and now GM] v. Plastech: Implications for Suppliers,” OESA Sales & Marketing Council, March 2008, Troy, Michigan; “Successfully Negotiating Supply Contracts: a View from the Legal Trenches,” December 2007, Troy, Michigan; “Playing Your Hand Well: Maximizing Value Through Commercial Contracts,” OESA Regional Meetings in Cincinnati, Ohio in December 2007 and Chicago, Illinois in May 2007; “Protecting Your Investment In Commercial Contracts,” PMA Quarterly Club, Goshen, Connecticut, November 2007; “Increased Raw Material Costs and the Law: Who Gets Stuck With the Tab?” 9th Annual Automotive Suppliers Symposium, March 2007, Grand Rapids, Michigan; “Increasing Raw Material Costs and Decreasing Vehicle Prices: What Gives? A Legal Perspective,” OESA General Meeting, June 2006, Troy, Michigan; and moderated a panel at American Bar Association Annual Meeting, August 2003, San Francisco, California.

Mr. Sharkey is the author or co-author of several articles, including, “The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005: Sensible Reform or Orwellian Title?” 25 Michigan Business Law Journal 3 (Fall 2005) and Co-Author, "Protective Orders: Safeguarding the Manufacturer's Confidential Information," Products Liability Advisory Council, Annual Seminar, March 2000.

Michigan Super Lawyers named Mr. Sharkey as a “Rising Star 2008” in Business Litigation. LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell awarded Mr. Sharkey an AV Peer Review Rating, identifying him as having very high to preeminent legal ability. He is a founding member and current Chairman of the State Bar of Michigan's Commercial Litigation Committee, is the current Co-Chair of the Membership Committee of the Federal Bar Association's Eastern District of Michigan Chapter, and is the former Chair of the Young Lawyer's Division of the Federal Bar Association's Eastern District of Michigan Chapter.

Michael Cowden covers the automotive sector and steel long products for American Metal Market. He has also worked at the Associated Press in Pittsburgh and at the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Chicago. He has also worked as a copy editor and in promotions at the University of Chicago Press.

Mr. Madhu Vuppuluri

President – Essar Americas, President & CEO, Essar Steel Minnesota LLC

Mr. Madhu Vuppuluri has been with the Essar Group since 1994 as a member of the

senior management team. At present, Madhu heads Essar’s business interests in the

Americas.

Over last several years, Madhu has been instrumental in building Essar’s presence in the

Americas in the BPO and steel sectors. Amongst the more notable acquisitions to

Madhu’s team’s credit are – Aegis Communications Inc, a BPO company with over

4,000 employees in United States of America. In steel, Madhu led the $ 1.6 billion

acquisition of Canadian TSX listed - Algoma Steel Inc. in June 2007 and followed by the

acquisition of Minnesota Steel Inc - a 1.4 billion ton iron ore resource - in September,

2007. He also led the business development initiative to establish a 2 million ton per

annum capacity hot rolled coil steel plant in Point Lisas, Trinidad. Madhu also

successfully closed several project and acquisition related, multi-billion dollar financings

for Essar.

Madhu has over two decades of leadership experience in finance, strategy and planning

functions in manufacturing and service industries. Madhu holds an MBA degree from

Columbia Business School- NY, Masters in Financial Management from Bajaj Institute

of Management - Mumbai and a degree in Law from Hyderabad, India

He serves on the boards of Essar Steel Algoma Inc, Essar Steel Minnesota LLC, Essar

Steel Caribbean Ltd and Aegis Communications Group Inc. and is based out of the Essar

New York office.

Herbert Fastert earned a B.S. and M.S. degree from Hamburg Polytechnical Institute in Mechanical Engineering in 1961. He joined Concast, the predecessor of SMS Concast Inc. in 1963 as a design engineer, and became Vice President of Engineering in 1968. In 1970, he was promoted to president of SMS Concast Inc., and remained so until SMS Concast Inc. was relocated to Pittsburgh when he became President and CEO of SMS Schloemann-Siemag Inc. in 1994, and CEO of SMS Demag Inc. in 1999. He retired as CEO in 2000, and remained as Chairman of SMS Capital and advisor to the SMS Demag Board until June 30th, 2006. Thereafter, as V.P. Technology he committed to support the ECO Steel efforts to build mini mills.

Peter R. Matt is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Global Industrial Services Group, based in New York.

Mr. Matt has been with the Bank for the past 18 years. During his time at Credit Suisse, Mr. Matt has worked extensively in Asset Finance, Restructuring, Leveraged Finance, including extensive work with the high yield and equity products. He has primary responsibility for the Bank's global metals business and a range of other industrial businesses.

Mr. Matt graduated from Amherst College in 1985 with a B.A. in English.

Mr. Pappalardo is a Managing Director at Dresner Partners, and heads the firm’s metals practice. In that capacity, he focuses on the production and distribution of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys, as well as on diversified industrial sectors. Mr. Pappalardo has extensive experience with mergers and acquisitions on both the buyside and sellside in domestic as well as international transactions. Additionally, he has advised clients in the private placement of debt and equity, enterprise valuations, solvency and fairness opinions and financial restructuring transactions.

Mr. Pappalardo has spoken as a metals industry expert for American Metals Market (AMM), Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), and the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) and the Turnaround Management Association (TMA).

Prior to joining Dresner Partners, Mr. Pappalardo led projects in Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin‘s Basic Industrial Group, focusing on the metals and industrials sectors and advising public and private clients on transactions ranging in size from $50 million to $500 million. During his 11-year tenure, he worked primarily in mergers and acquisitions, as well as other practice areas including ESOP valuations, financial opinions, and restructuring.

Previously, Mr. Pappalardo held the position of a Second Vice President in the corporate finance division for NBD Bank, where he assisted middle-market companies with business planning, derivatives and bond issuances.

Mr. Pappalardo has an M.B.A. in Finance and Business Policy, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a B.S. Finance, University of Illinois.

Paul Shellman is a Commodity Risk Management Consultant and presently engaged by the CME Group to manage their development of a steel futures market.

Mr. Shellman has 25 years of international commodity market experience in risk management covering the fields of trading, origination, finance, and product structuring. His work spans the physical and financial aspects of commodity markets where he has developed and managed ventures in North America, Europe and Australasia.

Paul's previous corporate experience includes; Koch Industries, where he assisted the company’s expansion into metals trading; co-founder and managing director at AIDC Metals – an Australian based metal trading company; and head of metal options trading at Goldman Sachs (J.Aron). He received a B.A. in Economics and International Business from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Thomas C. Graham is a founding member of T.C.Graham Associates. He is a former chairman and chief executive officer of AK Steel Corp., president and chief executive officer of Armco Steel Co. LP, chairman and chief executive officer of Washington Steel Co., president of the U.S. Steel Group of USX Corp. and president and chief executive officer of Jones & Laughlin Steel Co.

John T. Kopfle, Director – Corporate Development, Midrex Technologies, Inc.

Mr. Kopfle serves as Director – Corporate Development for Midrex Technologies, Inc. Midrex is based in Charlotte, NC, and is the leading process technology supplier for the production of direct reduced iron. MIDREX® Plants produced nearly 60 percent of the world’s DRI in 2008. Mr. Kopfle oversees corporate planning, marketing, and non-traditional business development. During his 25 years at Midrex, Mr. Kopfle has also worked in research and development, process engineering, and sales. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech, an M.B.A. at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and is a registered Professional Engineer. Mr. Kopfle has authored over 90 technical papers and contributed to three books, including “Direct Reduced Iron: Technology and Economics of Production and Use.” He is a member of the Association of Iron and Steel Technology and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Mr. Persampieri is a Vice President and leader of CRA’s Metals & Mining practice. He has over

twenty years of experience in helping clients across the metals, mining and related industries deal

with critical business issues, including strategic planning, competitive analysis, market planning,

market entry strategy, financial analysis, technology management, and manufacturing and

distribution. His experience encompasses raw materials, steel, aluminum, metal alloys, and

plastics.

JOHN TUMAZOS VERY INDEPENDENT RESEARCH, LLC (07/07 to present) Investment Advisor registered in New Jersey selling materials industries commodities and common stock research to professional investor institutions for cash in an electronic disseminated, unbundled format. Roughly 30 customers in nine states as of December 2008. Over $1 mm in revenues annually, traveled abroad to mines 20 times in first 18 months, published 341 reports in first 18 months, March 27th and November 12, 2008 metals conferences each had over 100 guests, completed three “custom studies” for large hedge funds of pre-production mines without U.S. research coverage in 2008, four merger advisory engagements as 2009 begins, four members, employee benefits plan, considering several new avenues for further growth.

PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL (7/01 to 6/07). Senior Vice President, Metals and Paper Analyst, Equity Research Dept. Only Wall Street analyst at a major firm covering both sectors, including 26 companies in 14 commodities.

SANFORD C. BERNSTEIN & CO., INC. (9/97 to 7/01). Metals Analyst, Equity Research Department. Research coverage of aluminum, copper, gold and steel. Ranked first in Institutional Investor All-America team first twelve times since 1988 and 42 times overall since 1982. Bernstein also managed over $80 billion and later Alliance Capital about $450 billion in money management units. Owned 0.05% stake in Bernstein partnership.

JOHN C. TUMAZOS, L.P. (1/97 to 6/97). Operated money management firm conducting research activities in metals sector privately for portfolio management as sector hedge fund style specializing in metals stocks. Tiger Management was founding limited partner in John C. Tumazos, L.P. Consulted to Tiger Management. Liquidated partnership June 30, 1997 due to administrative load.

DONALDSON, LUFKIN & JENRETTE (5/88 to 12/96). Vice President, Equity Research Department, specializing in metals securities. Principal in DLJ participating in 0.1% of DLJ’s pretax income. All-time Hall of Famer in Wall Street Journal survey by 1997, first in Greenwich Research survey metals category five straight years and was top metals price forecaster in RTZ

Jo Isenberg-O'Loughlin is a career-long trade journalist, editor and writer, who has spent more than three decades covering the steel, nonferrous metals and other process industries. In her current position as editor, Jo oversees the daily operation of American Metal Market, a division of Metal Bulletin plc and recognized "bible" of the North American steel, nonferrous and scrap industries.

Prior to joining AMM in March 2000, Jo held a variety of positions with major U.S. publishers including McGraw-Hill and Penton Media Inc. and has worked in a freelance capacity with organizations ranging from the American Management Association and the National Association of Manufacturers to the Japan Steel Information Center. She has served as editor in chief and a contributing editor of 33 Metal Producing and written for publications ranging from Business Week and Buyside to corporate newsletters for clients including Union Carbide, Verizon, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Jo is the recipient of several Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards presented by American Business Media for editorial excellence.