West Virginia Executive Spring 2017 | Page 100

Joe Eddy President & CEO Eagle Manufacturing Company JEAN HARDIMAN Photo by Tracy Toler. GROWING UP on a large cattle farm in Friendly, WV, Joe Eddy learned the value of a great work ethic from his father, an en- gineer at Union Carbide, and the importance of having strong compassion for life from his mother. He admired his father’s hands-on abilities, and while working summers at his grandfa- ther’s farm, he was fascinated by the wells where they pumped their own oil. This interest led to a degree in petroleum engi- neering from Marietta College in 1983. Though Eddy’s path would bend in time, his interest in the 98 WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE industry and its skilled jobs that lift up the state’s economy would only grow. After working successfully in the energy field for more than a decade in Texas, California, Ohio and Wyoming, Eddy returned to West Virginia in 1996, where he became the marketing and business development manager for Eagle Manufacturing Company in Wellsburg. Today, Eddy serves as the president and CEO of Eagle, a quality-focused, community-minded company that manufac- tures industrial safety products that meet the company’s mission