Southwire CEO Receives 2025 Pioneer Award

In recognition of his relentless dedication to the company’s values and his focus on ensuring Southwire is an extraordinary place to work, Southwire’s President and CEO, Rich Stinson, was recently recognized with the 2025 Pioneer Award.

Presented at the company’s annual Include Summit, this prestigious award honors someone who has boldly blazed new trails to drive the value of inclusion at Southwire.

Rich’s vision and unwavering commitment helped ignite transformative advancement in the development of Southwire’s values – empowerment, trust, consistency and inclusion. His pioneering spirit has not only opened doors, but laid foundation, process and opportunity for growth and a future where all team members can thrive.

“When I think about Rich and why he was the obvious choice for the Pioneer Award, there are countless reasons,” said Cara Herzog, Chief Inclusion Officer. “He has made such a meaningful impact on our industry alongside the many ways we’ve seen incredible growth at Southwire. Rich has led us through transformative change and propelled us forward. He established our core values, and in doing so, gave us a lens to view not just what we do, but how we do it.”

Southwire’s annual Include Summit is a reflection of the company's values and a celebration of its commitment to inclusion. It welcomes team members across the organization from all locations and functions who are leading with inclusion through employee resource groups (ERGs), Giving Back, mentorship and more. The gathering also emphasizes Southwire’s ongoing commitment to sustainability – the 2025 summit received the company's internal sustainable event certification.

In honor of the company’s 75th anniversary, this year's Summit evolved into a hybrid month-long experience with in-person and virtual opportunities, resulting in approximately 2,000 team members engaged, including 400 in-person attending at the dynamic, two-day gathering in Carrollton, GA on October 29 and 30.

Stinson is the second recipient of the Pioneer Award, following last year’s inaugural award winner, Charlie Murrah, EVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer, who was the first executive sponsor of the company’s Women’s Network ERG and a continued advocate and strong example of Southwire’s values in action.

Murrah presented Stinson with this year’s award at the company’s 2025 Include Summit on Wednesday, October 29.

“The Pioneer Award has been the most treasured recognition of my career, and it was an absolute honor to present Rich with this year’s award. Receiving this award means is that you live by your values – the right values,” said Murrah. “Rich gets involved - he plays the game, and he plays it with passion. He has candor, commitment and drive along with a will to win, but he also has a sense of fair play. We would not be anywhere near where we are today as a company without the leadership of Rich Stinson.”

Stinson, who recently announced his retirement, shared his deep appreciation for the Southwire team and acknowledged the role each team member plays in shaping and growing the culture and values of the organization.

“When I think about Southwire, I think about our two P&Ls. Our first P&L - Profits and Losses, is incredibly important as we continue to sustain our success. Equally important is the second P&L - People and Lives – we want to be an extraordinary place to work,” said Stinson. “It is our people and our values that truly set our company apart, and it is up to each of us and the choices we make that will lead us toward growth and a successful future. I am honored to receive this award and am incredibly proud of the work of our team that I know will continue in the years to come.”

In honor of this recognition and the evening’s keynote speaker, veteran hero and Paralympian Melissa Stockwell, a $10,000 donation is being made to Tunnel to Towers in Stinson’s name. Tunnels to Towers focuses on honoring fallen first responders and military heroes by building mortgage-free smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families and working to end veteran homelessness.

A full recap of Southwire’s 2025 Include Summit will be shared in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to the Southwire newsroom for updates.

For more information about Southwire’s continued commitment to inclusion, or to read the company’s latest Inclusion Report, visit https://www.southwire.com/inclusion.