32nd Annual Business & Labor Reception to recognize Sims Metal executive, carpenters union leader
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, and the Archdiocese of Newark’s Office for Youth & Young Adult Ministry will honor two local leaders during the Cardinal’s 32nd Annual Business & Labor Recognition Reception on Tuesday, March 4, at 6 p.m. at The Grove in Cedar Grove, N.J.
Mike Henderson Jr., chief operating officer of Sims Metal in North America, and Rocco Lepore, council representative for the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters (EASRCC), will be recognized at the fundraising event, which is typically attended by hundreds of business and labor leaders. All proceeds will benefit the Archdiocese’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) and Retreat Center in Kearny, which annually serves more than 40,000 young people of every race, religion and ethnic background. The Cardinal’s Annual Business & Labor Recognition Reception has raised more than $4 million for this cause since it was first held 32 years ago.
“Mr. Henderson and Mr. Lepore are both men of great character whose dedication to their employees and members — as well as the community — sets them far and above others,” said Tom Conboy, director of the Office for Youth and Young Adult Ministry. “These men join the ranks of our state’s most stellar business and labor leaders, and we look forward to recognizing them at our annual event on March 4.”
Henderson, this year’s business honoree, leads operations from Sims Metal’s North American headquarters in New Jersey. He has been in the metal recycling industry for more than two decades and has worked at Sims for 20 years.
Henderson has held various leadership positions in the commercial, strategic and operational end at Sims. He has also been a leader in the metal recycling industry’s premier trade organization, the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), and is the former president of its New York chapter. Born and raised in New York City, he now resides with his family in Basking Ridge, N.J.
Lepore, this year’s labor honoree, has been a member of EASRCC for 32 years and now represents more than 10,000 EASRCC members in New Jersey. He began his career as an apprentice in 1993 before working as a shop steward and foreman during his years as a rank-and-file member. He also served as a trustee and vice president of his local.
Lepore is a member of the CTE Carpentry Advisory Board for Newark’s Barringer High School and West Orange High School and is a member of Brick Township’s zoning board. He also serves on the Essex County College Foundation and Newark Workforce Development boards. Lepore and his family reside in Brick Township, N.J.
For more information about the Cardinal’s 32nd Annual Business & Labor Recognition Reception, contact Geraldine Ricci-Menegolla at 201-998-0088, extension 4154.
Featured image: Rocco Lepore (left) and Mike Henderson Jr. (right) will be honored at the Archdiocese of Newark’s 32nd Annual Business & Labor Reception on March 4, 2025, at The Grove in Cedar Grove, N.J. (Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Newark)
