Biography for James V. LaCarte

Jim grew up and was educated in the Pittsburgh area of Southwestern Pennsylvania.  He attended Monessen Jr. – Sr. High School where he graduated in the top ten percent of a class of seven hundred. He attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania majoring in Industrial Management and Safety Sciences. While at Indiana University he was involved with the Big Brothers Association of Southwestern PA as an active Big Brother and a student member of the Board of Directors. He also was a member and officer of the Kappa Delta Rho on campus social fraternity.

Jim began his career with Wheeling – Pittsburgh Steel Corporation in 1974. His initial responsibilities were as manager of coal handling and raw materials at the WP Monessen Coke Plant, where he administrated and managed the day-to-day operations of this department. In 1979 he was promoted to General Yard Master of the Monessen Southwestern Railroad, the inter- mill railroad system of this steel maker. Jim was promoted in 1981 to Corporate Manager of Wheeling – Pittsburgh’s Labor/ Management Participation program, where he served until 1992. During his tenure with Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corporation, Jim earned the designation of Certified Manager through the National Management Association, for services provided as an instructor and State President.

In 1992, Jim accepted a position with Gateway Industrial Services as Manager of Operations. His primary function and goal there was to implement and manage the product standardization, vendor consolidation and just in time delivery system of the customer’s maintenance, repair and operational (MRO) commodities. This market included the heavy industrial and manufacturing sectors.