History
Strickland Trading Inc. is a privately-held scrap metal brokerage company that was founded in 1991 by William R. “Billy” Strickland. With a core group of consumers and producers, he formed Strickland Trading, Inc.. He then turned to seasoned and experienced scrap metal traders to form a strong nucleus to successfully compete with the large brokerage firms in the southern region.
Strickland Trading, Inc. is a proud member of the Southeast Chapter of The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) With 21 chapters nationwide and headquarters in Washington, D.C., ISRI represents more than 1,200 companies that process, broker, and consume scrap commodities, including metals, paper, plastics, glass, rubber, electronics, and textiles. |
Executive Bios
William R. Strickland, Founder
William R. “Billy” Strickland founded Strickland Trading, Inc. in 1991. Before that time, Mr. Strickland began his career in the scrap industry in 1974 as a trader for Luria Brothers Birmingham, Alabama office. He moved to Erman – Howell, Division of Luria Steel and Trading as the Birmingham District Manager in 1977. He then joined Southern Scrap Material in New Orleans, Louisiana, as their Vice-President of Marketing from 1980 – 1983. Mr. Strickland left the scrap industry in the mid – 1980’s to trade Bond Futures in Chicago, Illinois at the Chicago Board of Trade. In 1989, he rejoined Erman – Howell Division in Birmingham as the Southern region Vice-President.
Education: BS in business from the University of Alabama in 1971
William R. “Billy” Strickland founded Strickland Trading, Inc. in 1991. Before that time, Mr. Strickland began his career in the scrap industry in 1974 as a trader for Luria Brothers Birmingham, Alabama office. He moved to Erman – Howell, Division of Luria Steel and Trading as the Birmingham District Manager in 1977. He then joined Southern Scrap Material in New Orleans, Louisiana, as their Vice-President of Marketing from 1980 – 1983. Mr. Strickland left the scrap industry in the mid – 1980’s to trade Bond Futures in Chicago, Illinois at the Chicago Board of Trade. In 1989, he rejoined Erman – Howell Division in Birmingham as the Southern region Vice-President.
Education: BS in business from the University of Alabama in 1971
Stephen M. Johnson, Partner, President/CEO
Mr. Johnson was named President in January of 2014, and CEO in September of 2017. He began his scrap brokerage career in 1976 with Luria Brothers Inc. in the Cincinnati, Ohio trading office. In 1979, he joined Chicago based Erman-Howell Division of Luria Steel and Trading in Cincinnati, Ohio as their District Manager. In 1982, Mr. Johnson joined Siskin Steel and Supply in Chattanooga, Tennessee as Vice-President of Marketing. His duties included formation and development of the ferrous scrap brokerage division. Mr. Johnson left the scrap metal business in 1986 to work in a family owned business in Birmingham, Alabama. He re-entered the scrap business in 1995 as minority partner and Vice-President of Strickland Trading, Inc.
Mr. Johnson attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.
Craig T. Medders, Partner, VP and Secretary
Craig T. Medders joined Strickland Trading, Inc. in 1994 as a minority partner and Vice-President. Mr. Medders started in the scrap industry in 1984 with Erman – Howell - Division of Luria Steel and Trading in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1989, he was named District Manager – Western Region of Erman – Howell and Western Region Vice-President and Manager of Sand Springs Metal Processing in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. In 1991, he joined the Chicago-based National Material Trading, Inc. as their Southern Region District Manager in Birmingham.
Education: Troy State University – Troy AL. Graduated 1983 with a Business Administration /Marketing degree.
Jerod C. Sinclair, Partner, VP
Upon graduating college, Mr. Sinclair pursued a career trading 30 yr. bond options at the Chicago Board of Trade in Chicago, from 1997-2000. Joined Brasfield and Gorrie, general contractors in Atlanta as a project manager. In 2002, Mr. Sinclair joined Strickland Trading as a broker, and subsequently became a partner in 2007.
Education: BS in Finance from Auburn University, Auburn, AL in 1997
Thomas D. (Danny) Marshall, Partner, VP
Danny joined Strickland Trading as a trader in 2012 and recently became a partner in the summer of 2018. A native of Atlanta, GA, Danny graduated in 2004 from Furman University – Greenville, SC with a degree in Business Administration. After graduation, spent several years in marketing and sales roles with Ferguson Enterprises – Atlanta, GA and the AVIS/Budget Group in Atlanta with a Southeastern US customer base
John C. Rust, Trader
Joined Strickland Trading Inc. early in 2018. Previously was with Regions Bank as a VP and Investment Portfolio Manager in the Trust Department for the past 8 years, working with individuals, families, and institutions. Graduated from Furman University – Greenville, SC, in 2005, with a BA in Business Administration and received MBA from Samford University Brock School of Business in 2010.
Sammy Smoke, Treasurer and Controller, & CFO
Joined Strickland Trading, Inc, in 2015. Subsequent to college, Mr. Smoke spent three years in public accounting with Donaldson, Holman & West, and a cumulative 24 years in commercial real estate with Crest Realty, Inc. and as Controller and CFO for Brigham Williams Commercial Properties, Inc.-Birmingham, AL. where he executed systematic accounting and analysis of multiple commercial properties including preparation of balance sheets, operating statements, cash flow analysis, and annual tax returns for various Corporations, S-corporations, and LLC holding companies.
Education: Graduate (1988) of Auburn University-Auburn, AL, with a B.S. in Business Administration with a major
in Accounting.
Hayden C. Walker, Trader
Hayden joined Strickland Trading Inc. in July of 2020. Previously was with Kemp Management Solutions as a Senior Project Manager for a year and B.L. Harbert as an Engineer / Estimator for 5 years. Hayden was born and raised in Birmingham, AL. Graduated from The University of Alabama in 2016 with a degree in Civil Engineering.
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