USM College of Business Names Chuck Scianna Entrepreneur of the Year

This press release comes from Southern Miss News

HATTIESBURG, MISS. - The Business Advisory Council for The College of Business at The University of Southern Mississippi will honor Chuck Scianna (’75) as the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year during a luncheon on Friday, April 6th in the Trent Lott National Center on the Hattiesburg campus. Scianna is the owner, founder, and President of Sim-Tex, a leading firm in the oil country tubular goods (OCTG) industry.

Sim-Tex, LP distributes pipes to the oil and gas industry and offers its services in hydrostatic testing and threading through use of an international supply chain. In simple terms, Sim-Tex provides the pipe that is used to produce oil and gas out of the well. Its products flow through distributors and retail OCTG pipe distribution companies.

Scianna completed an undergraduate degree in finance from USM, an MBA from University of Houston, and a distinguished record of service in the U.S. Marine Corps. He maintained a full time position as co-manager of an A&P food store in Bay St. Louis, Miss., while completing his undergraduate degree at USM, and fulfilled the requirements for a CPA license as he pursued opportunities in the oil industry in Texas. He founded Sim-Tex in 1986 and established working relationships with Hyundai Hysco OCTG products, and Benteler Steel that have lasted over several decades.

As an entrepreneur, Scianna not only leads Sim-Tex, he is also actively involved in banking, real estate, natural gas compression, natural gas cooling, operates a small farming and ranch operation and owns a small R&D company which owns several patents related to the oil and gas industry.

He describes the basis of his success as a focus and joy in the work, in the creation of new approaches, in always learning, and in connecting parts that make a successful business thrive. His ranch raises beef naturally with no additives and he operates Sim-Tex as an international enterprise from his headquarters in Waller, Texas.

“Chuck Scianna is an exemplar for the life of an entrepreneur. He does not seem to rest or stop learning,” said Dr. Faye Gilbert, Dean of the USM College of Business. “His drive to improve the industry, his community, and his approaches to business seem to be tireless pursuits that keep him engaged in the industry and in making a difference in the lives of others. He says that he was in the right place at the right time. I would say he had the right set of skills and abilities to translate risky chances into viable opportunities.”

Added Gilbert: “I commend him for remembering so many others as he has worked to succeed in this field and am very glad that the Advisory Council could highlight him as the entrepreneur of 2018. It is humbling to see someone achieve success who also works hard to balance his life with family and giving back to others.”

Chuck and his family are actively involved with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund, Boys and Girls Country in Houston, Weekly YMCA in Houston, St. Jude’s, the USM Foundation, the USM Athletic Foundation, and the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He has served as President of the Waller Economic Development Corporation, the Knights of Columbus Council, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, and other civic groups.

The Entrepreneur of the Year award is sponsored by an endowment established by the late Joseph Boardman for the College of Business.