Steven W. Alford

Milliken & Company — LaGrange, Ga.

Steven Alford was born in Morgantown, while his father, Darrell, was a senior at WVU. Following his father’s graduation, the family moved to the Boston, Massachusetts, area where many of Alford’s formative years were spent. The family returned to West Virginia when he was 14, and he graduated from Richwood High School in 1983 and enrolled in the College of Engineering at WVU. He graduated in 1987 with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering and with memberships in Tau Beta Pi, Omega Chi Epsilon and AIChE.

Milliken & Co., a South Carolina-based privately held textile and chemical manufacturing firm, hired Alford upon graduation. While working at Milliken, he has received numerous accolades including the prestigious Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance Excellence Award. In 1992, Alford earned an MBA in international business from the University of South Carolina.

Alford’s career path has been dominated by positions of process improvement and production management. His reputation for operational excellence and as a turn-around expert has led to challenging assignments throughout the company including several at the international level. He is presently floor covering director of manufacturing and company director of LEAN, promoting continuous improvement activities throughout Milliken.

He has been widely recognized for his community service, including being selected as American Red Cross volunteer of the year for a local chapter where he had distinguished himself on the disaster relief team. He has been logistics officer, Red Cross hero and chairman of the board of directors. Alford’s additional volunteer activities included Special Olympics and youth league basketball coach.

He and his wife, Mary, reside in LaGrange, Georgia. They are the proud parents of Megan, a senior at Auburn University, and Steven, a freshman at WVU.