Veteran Martin Marietta chairman and CEO to retire

Stephen Zelnak, Jr. will be replaced by Howard Nye, president and chief operating officer at the construction materials giant. Zelnak gives up CEO job as of Jann. 1 and will retire as executive chairman in mid-2010.

Posted 4:26 p.m. Nov 12, 2009 — Updated 4:26 p.m. Nov 12, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. — Stephen Zelnak, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer at Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM), is stepping down as the firm’s CEO.

He will be replaced by Howard Nye, who joined the company as president and chief operating officer in 2006, on Jan. 1.

Zelnak, 64, will continue as executive chairman of the board until he retires in the middle of next year. He has worked at Martin Marietta for 27 years, joining the firm when it was still a division of Lockheed Martin. He led Martin Marietta to its status as an independent company in 1994. He has been both chairman and CEO since 1997.

Martin Marietta operates more than 285 quarries and distribution facilities in 28 states as well as Nova Scotia and the Bahamas. It employs some 4,900 people.

Nye, 47, also was named to the Martin Marietta board. Before joining the Raleigh-based firm he worked 13 years at Hanson PLC and has more than 20 years of experience in the construction industry.

A graduate of Duke University, Nye earned a law degree from Wake Forest University.

“I am very proud of our company’s many accomplishments over the years and the great management team we have assembled,” Zelnak said in a statement. “In particular, recruiting Ward Nye three years ago has ensured that we will have a seamless transition to the next generation of leadership. Ward is an exceptional executive who is ready to lead Martin Marietta to a successful future. He and his team have my full support.”

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