Leeco Steel's success comes from its people, and two groups of people who are critical to our success are the sales associate and project management teams.
From entering and tracking orders to assisting our sales team with customer requests, the sales associate and project management teams play a vital role in powering the sales team, ensuring the department runs efficiently.
Sales associates and project managers serve as the main point-of-contact in all aspects of a customer's order, interacting with the warehouse, purchasing, billing and quality teams to get customers the steel plate materials they need.
"Each team member is extremely knowledgeable about Leeco's products and customers, and they work hard to help support our sales representatives," said Ruth Turner, Manager, Sales Associates. "The team does a lot of important behind-the-scenes work that really helps our sales department succeed, which is extremely important to each of us."
Building the Sales Associate Team
As Leeco's sales team grew in the 1990s, the company needed additional support in communicating with customers and processing orders. This led to the creation of the sales associate role.
In 2004, when Ruth started at Leeco, there were only four sales associates. However, as Leeco's customer base grew, the sales team needed additional support to continue providing excellent customer service during a period of rapid business growth.
"As we hired more sales associates, I took on the responsibility of training and helping define the sales associate role," said Ruth. "We, as a department, are constantly creating new ways to be more effective and efficient."
Ruth's leadership role within the department eventually led to her promotion to Manager, Sales Associates.
Between 2005 and 2010, Leeco's Chicago-area headquarters added additional sales associates to support the growing sales team: Julie Carling and Sue McKibbin. Each of their positions changed over time to match the company's growth.
Julie, for example, joined Leeco in 2010 as a temporary employee and was later hired as a permanent sales associate, first in Leeco's energy division, and later moving to help Leeco's central region sales team.
"My role has become more detail-oriented over time as processes and procedures were set to make the position more efficient," said Julie. "I really like the interaction I have with other sales associates and salespeople and working with the plants."
Sue McKibbin also saw her role change due to company growth. She joined Leeco as a sales associate in 2007 and, within a year, was moved to the energy division. In 2014, she was promoted to Project Manager - Energy Division.
"I've seen many market fluctuations in my role, but one thing that remains consistent is a supportive team," said Sue. "The sales associates all do a great job! I can, and have, called any one of them with a request for help. Everyone is willing to jump in when needed."
Supporting Sales Offices Across North America
The growth of Leeco's business also meant a wider geographic reach across North America. As new sales offices opened and regional sales teams grew, Leeco added regional sales associates to ensure order accuracy and efficiency.
Not only do these sales associates assist with orders, but they also play key roles in keeping the regional offices functioning. Sales grew rapidly in the early years at these regional offices, and the roles and workloads of sales associates evolved.
Jennifer Shepard, who joined Leeco's Oshkosh, WI sales office team in 2007, began supporting more specialized accounts as her region's reach grew.
"I became very involved with contract accounts over the years," said Jennifer. "Now, I support mostly our Canadian customers, which has been a major growth area for the company."
Shaena Roberts, a Fort Worth-based sales associate who started at Leeco in 2013, noticed a similar shift in her role as Leeco expanded its service offerings. This expansion allows Leeco to serve more customers, but adds complexity to orders.
"With complex orders, we often have to take a deeper dive and spend more time breaking the puzzle apart and putting it back together," said Shaena. "We make sure to carefully comb through everything and wrap it back up in a nice package to reduce errors."
Even as the sales associate team grows across North America, continuing to focus on collaboration and communication keeps processes running smoothly.
Megan Tokoph, who joined Leeco's Oshkosh, WI sales office in 2011, found that open communication within the team helps them be successful, even across different locations.
"As we've grown as a company, we've become busier," said Megan. "Our processes have evolved to centralize communication and tasks so we can all help each other out."
The Rise of Project Managers
In 2014, Sue McKibbin was promoted to Project Manager in the Energy Division, which was experiencing rapid growth. Orders for energy customers were highly complex and required greater sales associate assistance. Sue found the complex orders to be challenging and rewarding, and stepped-up to the challenge of managing these types of orders exclusively.
"This was an exciting shift for me," said Sue. I enjoy digging into the more complicated orders and ensuring everything is buttoned up for our customers. It's rewarding to be that connecting link between sales, operations and the customer."
Fast-forward to 2021, with the Energy Division continuing to grow and as Leeco's offerings expanded, the need for specialized project management continued to grow. Christine Agnew, a sales associate based in Houston since 2014, experienced this shift firsthand and saw her role evolve alongside Leeco's enhanced plate processing capabilities. As Leeco began offering processed plate parts, more dedicated sales support was necessary to ensure quality and on-time delivery. With the transition to processing hardware parts, Christine took time to grow and develop her skills and was promoted to Project Manager for processed parts in 2024.
"We've gone from just selling plate to cutting and drilling plate parts for our customers," said Christine. "This has changed the way we enter orders and interact with sales and operations."
With continued growth in Leeco's processing capabilities, the team expanded once again. In 2025, Dania Selner joined the project management team, bringing her expertise and collaborative spirit to help manage the increasing volume of processed parts orders. Dania's addition has further strengthened the connection between project management, sales and operations teams across the country.
"I enjoy the challenge of working on detailed and fast-moving orders," said Dania. "Being able to collaborate with different teams to meet our customers' needs makes every day rewarding."
Tara Schleis, who originally joined the Oshkosh, WI team as a sales associate in 2022, was promoted to Project Manager in 2025 as the Oshkosh team continued to grow and developed the need for specialized project management. Tara's keen attention to detail and proactive mindset made her a natural fit for the role.
"Moving into project management has allowed me to take a bigger-picture view of the order process," said Tara. "I love being able to connect the dots between departments to ensure everything runs smoothly for the customer."
Recruiting New Team Members
With company growth comes the need for new team members, and the sales associate team is no exception. Over the past couple of years, five new sales associates have joined the team: Kerry Frieberg, Hannah Hake, Danielle O'Neil and Cheyenne Johnson.
Recruiting the right talent is important to Leeco's success. Competitive pay and benefits are some of the things the company offers to attract hardworking, ambitious individuals. However, Leeco's collaborative, employee-focused culture is what drew newer team members to Leeco.
Kerry Freiburg, who joined the Lisle, IL team as a sales associate in 2021, was also drawn to the team's culture.
"I like the team atmosphere," said Kerry. "The people I work with are supportive and helpful!"
Hannah, who joined Leeco's Chattanooga, TN team in 2023, was drawn to all the learning and development opportunities that Leeco has to offer.
"I am excited to grow and develop my skills with all the amazing learning opportunities Leeco has to offer," said Hannah. "I am eager to take full advantage of all the resources available to me."
Danielle, who joined Leeco's Fort Worth, TX team in 2023, was seeking a role in a reputable company, who also has a strong leadership position in their industry.
"I believe being part of Leeco will not only enhance my career, but also provide me with the opportunity to learn from one of the best in the industry," said Danielle.
Cheyenne, who joined Leeco's Fort Worth, TX team in 2025, was seeking a role with more balance.
"I was looking for a better work-life balance, and Leeco gave me that," said Cheyenne. "I enjoy the culture of not just my department, but of the entire Leeco team."
Involvement in Industry Organizations
Many sales associates come to Leeco with little to no knowledge of the steel industry, and some choose to join or volunteer for steel industry organizations to increase this knowledge and network with others in the industry.
One such organization is the Association of Women in the Metals Industry (AWMI), which focuses on developing and supporting women in the metals industry.
Sales associates are also involved in the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI), a metals trade association.
Powering Sales
No matter the tenure or size of the sales team, each and every one of Leeco's sales associates and project managers is crucial to the success of the company and its day-to-day operations. Without the behind-the-scenes work that both teams do to support sales, operations and customers, Leeco would not be where it is today.
