Steve Riddle, President NCFI Polyurethanes, Retires After 15 Years with Company
The board of Barnhardt Manufacturing Co. (BMC), parent company of NCFI Polyurethanes, announced today the retirement of NCFI president, Steve Riddle. Riddle, 66, became the foam company’s fourth president in 2007, succeeding Swanson Snow, and was the first executive officer not part of the founding team in 1964.
“Steve was a bit of an outsider,” says Lewis Barnhardt, Pres./COO of BMC, “He brought a wave of innovation and change to the company from which we all benefited greatly. Steve’s leadership was a rock anchoring us during the Great Recession; the steady hand guiding the organization through it, getting us to the other side in a better position in the markets we serve. I speak for the entire Barnhardt family when I thank Steve, and congratulate him on his highly successful and constant leadership.”
Riddle is a Dalton, GA native, and graduate of Georgia Tech (BA), and Univ. of Pittsburgh (MBA). He worked in R&D and as a market manager with Mobay Chemical Company, now Bayer, and transitioned into sales with NCFI (then North Carolina Foam Industries) in 1999. He was chosen by the board to serve as president in 2007, and his seven years at the helm have seen the company grow considerably and prosper:

• Supplier Quality Excellence Award for work on the External Tank Program of the US Space Shuttle program from NASA/Lockheed Martin
• First US company to experiment with reducing petroleum content of foam by adding renewable agricultural products like corn and sugar beets
• Opened Western manufacturing facility (Utah)
• 14 distribution warehouses across the country
• Introduced many new brands of foam products (InsulBloc, AgriThane, BioLux, TerraThane, etc)
• Became leader in U.S. spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation industry
• Sales of NCFI products on every continent except Antarctica
• Grew to more than one million sq. ft. of manufacturing space
• First flexible foam to receive the USDA’s BioPreferred label
• Pioneering safer next generation blowing agent

Riddle says his time at NCFI was one of the best experiences he could have hoped for. “If I had to choose one thing as my hallmark on the company it’s leading the transition from thinking and acting like a manufacturing company to being a customer-focused organization. It’s kept us ahead of the markets we serve—more consistent and open to change. There are so many good, solid, hard working, intelligent people at BMC and NCFI that I feel blessed to have played a role in the polishing of this diamond in the rough. I am sure the company will continue to grow and prosper for another 50 years.”
Riddle is known as an active and adventurous person: twice running with the bulls in Spain, conquering the highest points in most Eastern US states including Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts with his daughter, and running in a marathon each of the last five years. “I expect to stay pretty busy. I think I’ll teach high school math, continue hiking the highest points in the Western states with my daughter, and running marathons as long as I can.”
Riddle is succeeded by Chip Holton, the current Director of Operations. Holton says he is honored to be following Riddle. “He’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met—a true gentleman. He served as president of PFA (Polyurethane Foam Association) and on many boards of the trade associations to which we belong. He’s been an amazing mentor and leaves the company in an ideal state for continued growth. His mark on the company will go with us long into the future.”