Manufacturing
CEO
Charter Manufacturing Inc.
Mequon
John W. Mellowes assumed leadership of Charter Manufacturing Inc. in 2013, succeeding his father in that role. Mellowes represents the fourth generation of family leadership of the Mequon-based metals manufacturing businesses; he is the great-grandson of Charter founder Alfred Mellowes.
The Charter family of companies includes Charter Steel, Charter Wire, Charter Dura-Bar and Charter Aarrowcast. Its customers include automakers, automotive suppliers and off-highway equipment manufacturers. The company has more than 2,500 employees. In 2022, it ranked No. 25 on Deloitte’s Wisconsin 75 list of the state’s largest private companies, based on sales revenue. The company’s revenue has exceeded $1 billion in recent years.
Under Mellowes’ leadership, Charter Dura Bar acquired iron distribution business Lokey Metals in Fort Worth; Charter Automotive acquired assets of Cobra Metal Works; and Charter Manufacturing acquired Aarrowcast Inc., a Shawano-based maker of gray and ductile iron castings.
It has also consolidated operations. In 2020, Charter Automotive exited its U.K. facility, consolidating business and assets into its Milwaukee and Changzhou, China, operations. The following year, it divested of its Charter Automotive China operations.
Mellowes serves on the board of regents of the Milwaukee School of Engineering and is a former board member of the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee.
Education: Bachelor’s, Princeton University; MBA, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania