Steve Chancellor
Native Patriot Steve Chancellor is proud of his country — what it has given him and others By Victoria Grabner
Steven Chancellor enters the lobby quietly, his jeans perfectly pressed, his back straight as an arrow. It’s a Friday on a recent April afternoon, and this time, he’s not in Washington, D.C., “trying to manage the characters that are up there,” he laughs. No. Today he’s in Evansville, in the headquarters of the American Patriot Group; in the building many people think looks like the White House. And on this day, he’s agreed to talk about one of his favorite subjects: his love for the United States. “I consider myself a patriot of the highest order,” he says while sitting behind the desk he designed himself, on the second floor of the structure on N. Cross Pointe Boulevard. Fox News is flickering silently nearby. A painting of his wife, Terri, hangs on the wall to his left. “Love of country, love of God — that was instilled in me for as long as I can remember,” he says. He remembers a lot. And he knows he’s in a unique position — first because he’s the only male in his family to have lived past age 30, and second because of what he’s become. Chancellor is the chairman of the American Patriot Group, the parent company of AmeriQual Group LLC, which supplies Meals, Ready-to-Eat (also known as MREs) to the U.S. Department of Defense and numerous other companies in multiple sectors. Previously, he was the president, CEO, and chairman of Black Beauty Coal Co., before he sold his remaining interest in the company to Peabody Energy in April 2003. Before that, he spent more than 10 years in the finance industry, becoming the assistant vice president of CrediThrift. And long before that, he was
just a 16-year-old truck driver, getting a feel for his first job. Chancellor was born in Evansville, but he moved to Elberfeld, a small town in northern Warrick County, after the fifth grade. He grew up in a 700- to 800-square-foot house, in what he describes as a “very, very modest family,” and he had to pay for everything —
Proud American // Steve Chancellor stands in the lobby of American Patriot Group next to a limited edition bronze eagle sculpture created by the artist Lorenzo Ghiglieri.
“Love your country, fly a flag, teach your children to defend their rights and freedoms to all who challenge them. Work hard and earn your God-given life and teach your children to do so as well. — Steve Chancellor Have pride in your love of God and country, your family and yourself.” Photo by Jordan Barclay
EvansvilleLiving.com may | June 2013 37