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Leroy Ball

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & Director, KOPPERS HOLDINGS INC

Search every verified Leroy Ball interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. At Koppers Holdings' 2026 Investor Day on September 17, Leroy Ball discussed the company's financial outlook and strategic initiatives. He stated that the majority of earnings improvement reflected in the company's 2028 outlook is expected to come from actions within its control, such as commercial execution, cost actions, portfolio optimization, and catalyst-driven initiatives, rather than relying on market recovery. He described the "catalyst" program as involving numerous projects ranging from $50,000 to larger initiatives, with no single "silver bullet" driving results. Ball also addressed the company's debt load, expressing confidence that it remains manageable and that there is a clear path toward paying down debt over time, which would naturally reduce interest costs. He noted that the company is "geared up and ready to perform" and expressed optimism about the upcoming period, describing it as potentially "special."

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Notable quotes

“The magic of catalyst is that there's no silver bullet in that whole process. Yes, you have a big initiative like the sticky closure that has some significant dollars attached to it, but it really is hundreds and hundreds of projects that range anywhere from $50,000 on up. Even the org design, 3 to 5 million out of 136 over that time period. It's meaningful because it's at least it's in the millions, but it would be ”

“The majority of the earnings improvement reflected in our 2028 outlook is expected to come from actions within our control. Market recovery and pricing represent additional upside, but not the foundation of the plan. We are not waiting for markets to recover. While market conditions will eventually improve, our plan does not depend on that outcome. Through commercial execution, cost actions, portfolio optimization, a”

“I think what the what you have modeled at the promise and you started in the beginning when you talked about having the individuals who are in the high schools who are helping these uh young kids not just get to graduation but also to think about their future in a different way is important because we're talking about the cost of education and and when he when Selene told me we were number one in in that category it ”

“Pennsylvania's population today that has a post-secary credential of any kind is 54%. 54% of us in Pennsylvania have a credential. In order for us to fill that skilled worker shortfall that will be created by credentialed people leaving the workforce, we need to increase the percentage of credentialed Pennians from 54 to 65% and do that by 2035. So 65 by 35 is the mantra that I uh get up tell myself I've got to attai”

“Pennsylvania's workforce today's workforce skilled workers in Pennsylvania's this labor market. Today, there are 1.2 million people my age or older. Uh, you're younger than me, so you're not included in it. So, uh, 1.2 million skilled workers older that are 55 years old. And where are they going in the next 2, three, five, six, seven years? They're leaving the market. Uh, Pennsylvania's death rate is much higher than”

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