John D. Tickle

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John Tickle

John D. Tickle

Chairman, Strongwell

Education

  • B.S. 1965, Industrial Engineering, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville

John D. Tickle (BS/IE ’65) is the owner and chairman of Strongwell Corporation, headquartered in Bristol, Virginia.

He received his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1965 from the University of Tennessee. He served in positions with Owens Corning Tech Center, Justin Enterprises, and Krueger Metal Products before returning to his hometown of Bristol to assume the presidency of Morrison Molded Fiber Glass Company (MMFG). Mr. Tickle stayed with MMFG after its acquisition by Shell in 1985.

In 1997, Mr. Tickle renamed the company Strongwell and began developing the technology that has made it a world-wide leader in pultrusion manufacturing, with the Bristol division serving as Strongwell’s largest facility and corporate headquarters.

The materials manufactured at Strongwell can be found around the world in high-end construction. If you have been to a resort on the ocean, there is a good chance the railings and fittings are made from Strongwell product–they don’t corrode in the salt air and look beautiful. If you own one of the orange ladders commonly sold at local home improvement stores, that’s Strongwell material.

Mr. Tickle has also been the recipient of a host of local, regional, and national business and philanthropic awards, including receiving the UT Distinguished Alumni Award (with his wife, Ann); having the Mall at Bristol Regional Medical Center named for him in 2004; being named a Laureate in the Junior Achievements Business Hall of Fame in 2000; Virginia Chamber of Commerce Torchbearer Award for Western Virginia in 1999; and the Bristol Regional Hospital Chairman from 1987 to 1992.

Mr. Tickle, who earned the rank of Eagle Scout, received the Heroism Award from the National Court of Honor of the Boy Scouts of America in June 2012. He also recently received the 2013 ACMA Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA), the industry’s largest trade group in the world.