|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Ron Peppe doesn’t do downtime.
Throughout his nearly forty-year legal career, Peppe has added one experience after another. It started with financial transactions, bond deals, and international banking at Kutak Rock. Then mortgage-backed securities, which fed his passion for computers, at Prudential Financial.
From Prudential, Peppe moved on to Canam Steel Corporation, where he spent twenty-eight years. Plus, there were two years at the Association of Corporate Counsel as well as chairing school boards in two states and serving on city council.
These varied experiences taught him that he thrives on trying new things. “You keep reinventing yourself and learning more,” he says. “That keeps it exciting.”
After nearly thirty years at Canam, Peppe is now the vice president and general counsel at FabSouth, a construction company based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In his July 2024 interview with Modern Counsel, he reflected on how he built his wide-ranging legal expertise, how his leadership style has evolved, and what’s next for him.
Environmental Law
Peppe credits his work at the Department of the Interior with helping him secure his initial role at Canam. He joined Canam knowing a little bit about environmental law, but his first couple years at the company allowed him to grow into an expert. He even spoke at conferences about air and stormwater permitting and regulation.
During this time, changes from the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were rolling out. Canam faced conflicting information across the states where it operated plants. Ahead of building a new plant in California, Peppe worked with the company’s environmental engineer.
“We figured out that if we followed the state rules, we’d make more pollution than if we did it the way we wanted to,” he recalls. “So we spent four years getting the laws changed, which was a win-win. It would pollute less, and we could still produce and get the permit.”
Though a recession hit and the California plant was not built, the experience served as a model for the other environmental work Peppe completed while at Canam.
Reporting for Admin Duty
Human resources had always been part of Peppe’s legal roles from a compliance perspective. But it was his return to Canam from the Association of Corporate Counsel that granted him a new appreciation for the softer side of HR.
“I said, ‘We need to create systems so if I get hit by a bus, everything still functions, and we have a team of people who know what they’re doing and where to find things.’”
Ron Peppe
He managed compensation, benefits, payroll, and the whole HR team—all during a time of standardization. Though it was a challenge because the company operates in all fifty states, this aspect of Peppe’s last Canam role became his favorite.
“We were affecting people, and it’s fulfilling when you get notes from frontline employees you don’t even know,” he says. “Little things like that made you realize it was about more than just getting the product out the door.”
In 2017, Canam went from a publicly traded firm to a private company, which required a reorganization. Peppe added risk management to his repertoire, alongside safety, environmental law, and compliance.
Creating a new corporate structure can be daunting, but for Peppe, it was one of the most exciting times. There were new systems to purchase and implement, new teams and departments to build out, and training and development programs to put in place.
“That’s how I ended up with my final title of executive vice president of shared services, because I was covering so many areas,” he explains. “It was all the behind-the-scenes administration that a company needs.”
Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
The reorganization, with all its challenges, taught Peppe a vital lesson: delegate.
He was training new groups of folks who, unlike him, hadn’t done everything and didn’t know where everything was after all the changes. As the go-to person for answers, he realized he needed to pass on his knowledge.
“I said, ‘We need to create systems so if I get hit by a bus, everything still functions, and we have a team of people who know what they’re doing and where to find things,’” he says.
It was a moment of growth for Peppe. At the beginning of his career, he tended to be a perfectionist. Learning to let go and let people make mistakes, he explains, is often how they will learn and figure out what’s not working.
“A lot of places say they like to give people permission to fail, but then they don’t follow through on it,” he says. “I try to do that.”
The Next Chapter
Peppe still doesn’t do downtime. He notes that he likes to help organize and run things, whether it’s a student government organization or Canam’s restructuring. He wants to have a foot in the nonprofit world, if the situation fits.
“It’s fulfilling when you get notes from frontline employees you don’t even know. Little things like that made you realize it was about more than just getting the product out the door.”
Ron Peppe
He still has a passion for education. He helped start the first charter school in the not-so-charter-friendly state of Maryland. And he’s very proud that his daughter became a teacher.
“It’s a little odd for me, talking about things I’ve done, because I’m always thinking about, ‘Well, what haven’t I done?’” he says.
With a new role at FabSouth, only time will tell.
–Interview conducted by Noah Johnson
“Frantz Ward is proud to work with Ron Peppe and Canam Steel to achieve sophisticated solutions to complex problems. Ron’s creativity and experience across all facets of operations, including HR, compliance, contracts, and litigation, as well as his composure under pressure, have been truly exceptional.”
–Ian Frank, Chair, Construction Practice Group
