Every structure that stands tall, every bridge that connects communities, and every product built to last owes part of its strength to what often goes unseen—its protective layers. Behind the durability and performance of the modern world lies a powerful force: advanced metal coating technologies that shield infrastructure, machinery, and everyday essentials from time, wear, and the elements. These solutions do more than just preserve—they ensure reliability, promote sustainability, and extend the life of the things we depend on most, and AZZ Inc. is one such company driving this mission forward with expertise, innovation, and purpose.

As a leading independent provider of metal coating and galvanizing solutions, AZZ Inc. plays a vital role in building and protecting the foundation of everyday life. With unmatched proficiency in hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating, the company enhances both the performance and appearance of infrastructure, products, and systems across the globe.

Serving a wide range of industries - from construction and heavy industrial to infrastructure, transportation, electrical networks and consumer goods. AZZ delivers lasting protection where it matters most. Through its two core business segments, Metal Coatings and Precoat Metals, AZZ provides innovative solutions that combine strength, durability, and aesthetic value. What sets AZZ apart is more than its technology. It’s the company’s unwavering commitment to quality, sustainability, and long-term partnerships. With every project, AZZ helps ensure that the essential parts of our world not only endure, but succeed.

At CIO Bulletin, we had the distinct honor of interviewing Thomas E. Ferguson, President and CEO of AZZ Inc. He shared valuable insights into how the company serves as a trusted partner in building a resilient future—safeguarding the durability and integrity of the systems that connect and empower communities around the world.

Interview Highlights

AZZ Inc. began in Crowley, Texas, in 1956 and has grown into North America’s largest hot-dip galvanizer and coil coating provider. Can you share the story behind AZZ’s inception and the key milestones that have shaped its journey over the past six decades?

For nearly six decades, AZZ has been protecting critical infrastructure (electrical transmission and distribution poles, bridges and highways, power generation, ports, airports, and water infrastructure) from the destructive forces of corrosion as North America’s leading provider of hot-dip galvanizing for fabricated steel. Today, the company operates 46 hot-dip galvanizing and surface technology plants across North America (U.S. and Canada).

In 2022, the company acquired Precoat Metals in a strategic acquisition that expanded the company’s solutions portfolio into coil coating applications for both steel and aluminum. This added another 14 locations to the company, bringing the total to 60.

What products and services does AZZ Inc. offer, and how do they cater to the diverse needs of industries such as construction, transportation, industrial, and oil and gas?

AZZ Inc. is the leading independent provider of hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions to a broad range of end markets. Collectively, our two business segments provide sustainable, unmatched metal coating solutions that enhance the longevity and appearance of buildings, products, and infrastructure that are essential to everyday life.

The Metal Coatings segment provides hot-dip galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, and plating, and other surface coating applications to steel fabrication and other industries through a network of 46 facilities located across the U.S. and Canada. The zinc alloying renders corrosion protection to fabricated steel for extended periods of up to 75 years, making hot-dip galvanizing an environmentally friendly and sustainable coating solution. AZZ’s Metal Coatings segment may not be a name you know, but you’ve seen its effects virtually everywhere you look! Any metal structure that is gray/silver has been galvanized! (Think of guardrails, light poles, electrical utility products, highway signage support, bridges/overpasses, etc.)

The Precoat Metals segment engages in the advanced application of protective and decorative coatings and related value-added services for steel and aluminum coil, primarily serving the construction; appliance; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); container; transportation; and other end markets.

Your Metal Coating segment emphasizes seamless integration into customers’ supply chains. How does AZZ ensure fast turnaround times and on-time deliveries while maintaining high-quality standards across its state-of-the-art facilities?

AZZ is the nation’s largest independent hot-dip galvanizer of post-fabricated steel. The company operates a total of 42 hot-dip galvanizing facilities across the United States and Canada, making the company the logical choice for North American steel fabricators. This scale advantage allows the company to consistently serve its customers within a 3- to 5-day timeframe and to expedite orders faster if needed. Further, the company has invested in industry-leading customer and operations technology known as DGS, an acronym for Digital Galvanizing System, that provides customers with the status of their steel through the process, any exceptions, and when it is available for pickup.

AZZ Precoat Metals operates a closed-loop coil coating process that captures 98% of VOCs, making it environmentally friendly. How does AZZ balance innovation with sustainability, and are there any new eco-friendly initiatives in development?

AZZ is committed to growing its business in a sustainable and socially responsible manner. AZZ’s sustainability framework is integrated into its overall business strategy through its focus areas of environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and corporate governance. AZZ strives to improve the efficiency of its operations, including increasing energy and resource efficiency, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, reducing water consumption, conserving natural resources, and offering products and solutions with superior sustainability attributes that meet or exceed its customers’ needs.

The Precoat Metals segment utilizes a number of company and industry best practices to reduce emissions and minimize waste streams, including:

1. Thermal Oxidizer & Energy Recovery: On-site thermal oxidizers destroy up to 98% of VOCs and recover energy to generate steam for production.
2. Solvent Reclamation: Reclaims waste solvent from the coating process.
3. Fuel Blending for Energy Recovery: Recovers energy from waste solvent by fuel blending.
4. Chemical Coater for Waste Minimization: Minimizes chromium waste generation with a chemical coater.
5. Wastewater Treatment: On-site treatment plants clean and process wastewater.
6. Baghouses for Emission Control: Baghouses reduce particulate emissions.
7. Recycling of Scrap Metal: Recycles scrap steel and aluminum.

What role does research and development play in AZZ’s strategy to remain North America’s leading provider of metal coating and finishing solutions?

AZZ has partnered with Texas A&M since 2019 to conduct R&D projects related to improving AZZ’s hot-dip galvanizing process, with the goal of designing more efficient production processes, including the reduction of resource usage and emissions mitigation. The initial results of the research have been tremendous, leading to the mitigation of corrosion and degradation of the metallic fixtures used in production that occur during the pickling process, and reductions in the usage of chemicals, kettle additives, natural gas, and zinc. The research conducted by the students at Texas A&M and the AZZ engineering group has led to improved standard operating procedures utilized by AZZ’s Metal Coatings facilities, impacting safety for its employees, increased product quality, increased production fixture lifespan, reduced usage and replacement costs, and reduced disposal of non-recycled resources.

Are there any exciting new projects, partnerships, or expansions on the horizon for AZZ Inc. that position it as one of the “Best Companies to Watch 2025”?

In FY2024, AZZ began construction of a new aluminum coil coating facility in Washington, Missouri, equipped with value-added pre- and post-processing capabilities. The 25-acre facility encompasses 215,000 square feet and created over 80 skilled jobs when it became operational in early 2025. The Washington coil coating facility was constructed to serve the aluminum container market with a new aluminum coil coating line. You may not recognize AZZ, but you would recognize many of the aluminum can tops and pull tabs that it coats, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Red Bull, Celsius, Monster, Liquid Death, SPAM, and several popular pet food brands.

Looking ahead, what markets or industries is AZZ targeting for growth, and how do you plan to expand your global footprint while maintaining your commitment to quality and sustainability?

AZZ expects to grow both organically and inorganically, focusing on the North American hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating market. We do not have plans to expand beyond the U.S. and Canada at this time, as we believe there is ample opportunity to grow without the cost and complexity associated with international operations.

Meet the Visionary Leader Upfront

Thomas E. Ferguson is the President and CEO of AZZ Inc. He assumed this position in November 2013. Prior to joining AZZ, Ferguson served as the CEO of FlexSteel Pipeline Technologies, Inc., and spent 25 years in various executive roles at Flowserve Corp., including President of the company’s Flow Solutions Group—a $3 billion global manufacturer of engineered pumps and mechanical seals—before retiring in 2013. He also serves on the Board of Directors at AZZ Inc. and Lionheart Children’s Academy.

“AZZ is the nation’s largest independent hot-dip galvanizer of post-fabricated steel. We operate a total of 42 hot-dip galvanizing facilities across the United States and Canada, making us the logical choice for North American steel fabricators.”