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Business View Magazine
Allstate Steel Company
Building integrity: the strength of steel with a woman’s touch
Not often is a woman found at the helm of an industry-
leading structural steel company. Then again, Sharon
Suggs is not your run-of-the-mill executive. Today, she is a
strong and focused leader, embracing technology on the
path to success. However, things were quite different five
years ago when her husband, former Allstate Steel Presi-
dent Ken Suggs, passed away after a lengthy illness. At
first, Sharon was hesitant to step in as President and CEO
of the family business, but she has proven to herself and
the industry that she’s more than capable. The post-reces-
sion struggle has been tough, yet ultimately rewarding, as
Allstate Steel is once again a thriving entity respected by
customers, suppliers, and employees, alike.
Suggs recalls, “My father-in-law started the company in
1963 as a small business, and moved it to our present lo-
cation in Jacksonville, Florida in the late ‘60s. At the time,
they were working on a NASA platform out of steel and
it was a big deal. Ken and I were dating back then, and
he was working on the project… well, actually, he was the
janitor/cleanup guy. All our employees have to work their
way up! I started in the accounting department in ’72 – no
