An MBA Alum Works With Aluminum in the Steel City
Steven Williams, MBA ’20, was recruited by Pittsburgh-based company Arconic after graduating from Chatham University. (Photo courtesy of Steven Williams)
Steven Williams, MBA ’20, was looking to advance his career when he came to Chatham University.
He wanted professional development in skills like public speaking and teamwork, and he wanted a program that split time between in-person classes and online. The Master of Business Administration program at Chatham gave that to him.
“I thought about a few different schools,” Williams told Pulse. “I enjoyed the small class sizes at Chatham and the hybrid style. I didn’t want a fully online program.”
Not long after he graduated four years ago, Williams was recruited by Arconic, the Pittsburgh-based metals engineering and manufacturing company. He works in account management.
One reason he likes working in the aluminum industry: recycling. Aluminum is often recycled indefinitely, which helps sustainability.
“I never really thought of sustainability in business until I took classes at Chatham,” he added.
“Sustainability is at the forefront of so much of what you do there, as a school.” It’s something he still focuses on in his work at Arconic.
Participatory management, which encourages all employees to take part in decision-making, is another concept he holds onto today. Williams illustrated it with the example of asking everyone in a meeting for their opinion on ongoing projects.
“By doing that and listening to everyone’s input, even if you don’t take someone’s idea … everyone feels like they have a say in what you’re doing and a common goal,” he said. “It gets everyone interacting with the project and leads to a better outcome.”
He also made connections with his peers, many of whom he saw in different courses throughout his time at Chatham. “My one friend, we went through every single class together,” he said. “It was great to work with her along the way.”
Williams’ plan for a hybrid education was ultimately upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led Chatham in early 2020 to temporarily shift the program to a virtual format. (Students now can choose either a hybrid or fully online track for their MBA degree.)
But even the pandemic opened up opportunities for Williams, who worked with the East Liberty Chamber of Commerce for his capstone project, brainstorming how they could help businesses navigate the health crisis and its effects on local business.
“That was really good, because it was such a huge challenge,” he said. It was a moment when no one was quite sure what to do, yet they continued to try to help.
“It definitely helped me out in my professional life, also, because everyone was trying to figure out how to work on [Microsoft] Teams and do all these projects virtually, in a professional setting,” he said.
Williams now works at Arconic’s headquarters in Pittsburgh’s North Shore, but he uses virtual communications frequently with team members all over the country.
He also gets to visit the company’s mills in Lancaster, PA, and Davenport, IA, as well as customers’ facilities, where aluminum is used to make all sorts of products—manufacturing equipment, construction materials, consumer goods packaging, and more.
“It’s cool to see how many industries the work I do touches,” Williams said. “Basically, every aluminum can you see, we’ve probably touched it at some point.”
Learn more about Chatham’s Master of Business Administration degree, which offers multiple concentrations and can now be obtained in just one year. The MBA program is part of Chatham’s new School of Business & Enterprise.