BRICK BY BRICK.

• Position: GREENSHOOTS--Revitalizing rural N.C.

Walk around UNC Charlotte, N.C. State, Wake Forest and High Point universities and one can't help but notice the vast number of bricks dotting the campuses. It's one of the many ways that family-owned Pine Hall Brick has affected North Carolina.

The Winston-Salem-based company, part of Business North Carolina's Private 125 list of large N.C. private companies, has had a particularly big impact on Madison in Rockingham County. Its brick production plant employs 180 in the town of 2,100.

Pine Hall is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, highlighting the Steele family's longevity and impact. Civil War veteran J.C. Steele founded J.C. Steele

Separately, J.C Steele's son, Flake, bought a dormant brick company in Pine Hall in Stokes County in 1922, which has evolved into today's Pine Hall Brick. At the time, bricks were made from shale mined from mud banks along the Dan River.

Fourth-generation family member Walt Steele, who joined the company in 2011, has been president and CEO since April 2021. He succeeded his father, Fletcher, who is executive chairman.

Pine Hall's plants in...