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Steve Heese ’79’s business career
has taken him around the globe.
After graduating from Harvard
Business School in 1988, he spent
the next 12 years about as far from
Tampa as possible as a general
manager with ERICO International,
a privately-owned construction
products company.
“That adventure began in Sydney,
Australia, where I met my wife
Amanda and our three children were
born,” Heese said. “I expanded ERICO
in the far East and Europe, moving to
Singapore, Hong Kong, Amsterdam,
CEO of the company.”
After a dozen years of international
business globetrotting, he left ERICO
in 2000 and returned to Tampa,
where he made a reconnection
with a former Jesuit High School
classmate, Clayton McNeel ’79. They
partnered in an investor group that
purchased the assets of the Chris-
Craft Boat Company in Sarasota at a
bankruptcy auction.
Fast forward nearly two decades
and Chris-Craft now builds more
than 500 boats and yachts annually
which are sold in 38 countries, while
boasting 400 employees. Heese sold
Chris-Craft in 2018 to Winnebago
Industries but remains as CEO.
Through all his success in business
and travels around the world, Heese
has always remembered his roots at
Jesuit High School. A frequent and
generous donor to the school for
years, Heese recently made a special
gift that will impact generations of
Tigers: A fully-endowed scholarship.
“This gift will provide a Jesuit
education to a high school boy
who would otherwise not be able
said. “I believe that each Jesuit grad
is called to make a difference in the
world, and the recipients of this
scholarship will make a difference
forever.”
Heese’s desire to make such a gift is
connected to both his fondness for
Donald and Margaret. His mother
passed away this year.
brother (Brian Heese ’81) and I could
attend Jesuit,” Heese said. “A fullyendowed
scholarship in their name
felt like a great way to honor their
Through the years, Heese has
appreciated his Jesuit education and
its impact on his life.
“After college and into my 20s, I
began to realize how blessed I was
to have attended Jesuit,” said Heese,
who earned an academic scholarship
to Tulane University. “All Jesuit alumni
are standing on the shoulders of
the Jesuit fathers, administrators,
teachers, and the donors that built
this school to be the truly remarkable
institution that it is.
“I met my life-long friends there, and
Jesuit prepared me for life’s challenges
and taught me the value of hard work.
The books we read and discussed, the
school Masses and homilies and the
community service all helped form my
character and forge my path in life.”
Giving Profile
STEVE
HEESE '79
I believe that each Jesuit grad is called
and the recipients of this scholarship will make a difference forever.”