Above: NASPD founders, Jerry Rubenstein, left, and Pete Knowles.
February, 2025- Fifty years ago, in April 1975, representatives from 51 scions of the pipe distribution industry met for cocktails at a San Antonio, Texas, hotel. The meeting was anything but a chance encounter. It was carefully orchestrated by Jerry Rubenstein and Pete Knowles, who had compiled an elite list of invitees with the intent of forming “an association where pipe distributors could get together to reinforce relationships and meet others in this business we shared,” explains Rubenstein in recalling what would become the founding of the National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors (NASPD).
“We needed a way to exchange information and learn from each other,” he adds. The next morning, the 68 leaders in attendance reconvened and voted to form the NASPD. In February 2025, the trade association members return to San Antonio to mark the golden anniversary of the NASPD at its annual convention. The guest of honor will be Jerry Rubenstein. (Knowles passed away in 2008, at 86 years old.)
In the past half century, the NASPD has facilitated countless networking events, fostered invaluable business and professional relationships, and nurtured the next generation of leaders in the pipe distribution industry. Today the association, based in Victoria, Texas, boasts more than 200 member companies and is managed by Susannah Porr, executive director. The association’s current president is Jerry Brookshire, partner and purchasing manager for Pittsburgh Pipe.
NETWORKING
“Networking is critical and key to what the NASPD does. The side effects of this networking are the relationships that are fostered, some that are lifelong and career-long relationships,” says Brookshire. To that end, the association hosts three formal networking opportunities each year—the annual convention, a summer conference and a fall conference—held at various locations across North America.
Leadership development program facilitator, Dr. Scott McCalla, left, with four graduates from the 2022 program: Jack Mocker, Sarah Marchisio, Steve Quintero and Paul Brumbaugh.
The agenda for these events includes committee workshops, roundtable discussions, keynote speakers and presenters on a range of topics. Past speakers have included Senator Mitch McConnell; Texas politician and U.S. Navy officer Charlie Wilson; and Keith Busse, CEO and president of Steel Dynamics.
“We’re always looking to add value for our membership. Central to that is creating relationships with our members and suppliers. Even though we all compete against each other, we also sell and buy from each other. It’s a very small pool of players in the pipe distribution industry. And really cementing those relationships helps the industry—and the member businesses—further itself down the road,” says Brookshire.
FRIENDSHIPS
Opportunities for informal networking are also commonplace within the NASPD community. From tours of NASA’s Space Center or Harvard University to sporting clay shoots—a fundraiser for scholarships— members meet up to build relationships outside the confines of the corner office or shipping bay.
“We have members who have become lifelong friends and business partners because of the NASPD. Any time I go to a member’s wedding, funeral or other milestone, I am sure to run into other NASPD members supporting the people they love,” notes Porr. Brookshire underscores the value of fostering these friendships. “In industry, issues pop up. No matter how prepared you are, things happen. And most of those things are out of your control. When you have a relationship where you can pick up the phone and say, ‘hey, bud, we’ve got an issue here,’ having a solid friendship just makes that conversation much easier,” he explains.
A Congressman from Texas, Charlie Wilson, left, was a guest speaker at an NASPD meeting
The NASPD is guided by a board of directors, like this group of leaders from the late 1970s
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
To help immerse new members into the tight-knit NASPD community, the association launched the Leadership Development Program in 2019 with a class of nine emerging leaders in the pipe distribution industry.
“We wanted to identify and develop our future leaders. This program is a great value to our member companies who receive the benefit of a professional development program for their future leaders,” says Porr.
The program has 21 alumni who were certified at the conclusion of a strenuous curriculum delivered during four separate multi-day meetings in conjunction with the three annual NASPD convention/conferences. Eleven more budding leaders are expected to complete the program this spring.
The program has also proven to be a huge benefit to the NASPD. “We are reaping the benefits of their new leadership skills by plugging them into our committee and board structure,” says Porr of the program’s graduates. “We are utilizing their ideas and insight to help create the future of NASPD. Our committees and board are already bearing the fruits of this program with new young leaders entering our highest levels of member engagement,” she adds.
EDUCATION AND INFORMATION
Under Porr’s leadership (she has been at NASPD’s helm since 1995), the association established a series of educational courses. The first Steel Basic Education Course was unveiled in 2006 at the annual convention. NASPD curriculum has since expanded to include an OCTG Specialty Education Course. Both certified courses are taught by industry experts and specialists and are designed to help rookies entering the steel pipe industry get a jump start in their careers and add value to their employers. Industry veterans also find the courses helpful in broadening and deepening their steel pipe knowledge.
To augment one’s understanding of the industry, NASPD publishes two influential manuals for the industry: “The Fundamentals of Steel Pipe” and “Tubular Products Manual.”
In 1976, NASPD began publishing Pipeline magazine. The periodical is now published three times a year and reports on key industry trends ranging from AI to insurance.
THE FUTURE
“We were founded by Jerry Rubenstein and Pete Knowles, two pillars of the industry. Their foresight and grit will always serve as inspiration to our future leaders,” explains Porr. She and Brookshire are both bullish on the future of the association.
“I am excited to think about what the next 50 years will look like. When I first became executive director, the NASPD was in rough financial shape. We have since [improved] the financial strength of our organization to ensure sustainability well into the future,” Porr notes. “When you take a step back and really look at the whole forest, you see how far we’ve come in a short amount of time. It makes me very proud to be a part of it and to know the future’s bright for the NASPD,” says Brookshire. Porr agrees, adding, “We have never had such a strong lineup of future leaders, thanks in no small part to our Leadership Development Program. Our active and engaged membership will undoubtedly ensure our sustainability and our ability to thrive into the next 50 years.”
NASPD, 361/574-7878, naspd.com
