Big River Steel CEO found dead

He served as the president of Nucor Corp.in Arkansas from 1991 to 1999 and CEO from 1996 to 1999.

John Correnti, the CEO and chairman of Arkansas-based Big River Steel, has died in Chicago. Correnti was found dead in Chicago, where he had been on a business-related trip, according to an online report from KATV Channel 7 of Little Rock, Arkansas.

His career began in 1969 with U.S. Steel, where he served in construction management activities until 1980.

Correnti was leading Big River Steel to build a $1.3 billion mill in Osceola, Ark., near the Mississippi River.

Correnti founded Serverstal Columbus LLC, a steel mill in Mississippi, in 2005, Bloomberg said.

$10 million in training funds from the state and other incentives including sales tax refunds on building materials and equipment.

“Welcome to steel mill heaven”, Correnti said at the project’s groundbreaking ceremony.

The Big River project is expected to employ more than 2,000 construction workers. In a statement, Big River said it would continue to be managed by its operating committee. He has been called a ‘steel man’s steel man, ‘ and indeed his name was synonymous with the steel industry. “When you have the investors that are in the project, and the team that John put together, I would expect that this project would go forward as scheduled on toward completion”. UPDATE: We reached Arkansas Teacher Retirement System Executive Director George Hopkins in Osceola this morning, where he has been meeting with employees and administrators of the Big River Steel plant project.

“As we were working together to try to figure out how to bring Big River Steel to Arkansas that was always near the front of his mind”, Tennille said.