Bradford Muller leads marketing, corporate communications, and government affairs for AFS Corporate Member Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company, a fourth-generation, family-owned manufacturer based in North Carolina. He is also the current president of AFS. Muller took the time to answer a few Modern Casting questions shortly before attending the AFS Foundry Leadership Summit last month.

Modern Casting: What’s your background in the foundry industry? 
Brad Muller: I joined Charlotte Pipe and Foundry from the advertising agency world in 2002 to become the company’s director of marketing. Prior to that, my background was primarily politics, public relations, marketing, and crisis communications. 

MC: How and when did you first become involved with AFS?  
Muller: I first became involved in AFS in 2006 when I joined the Government Affairs Committee. After some experience with the group, I ended up chairing the committee for several years. I was asked to serve on the board in 2017 and was named 2nd vice president in 2021. 

MC: What has kept you active in the Society? 
Muller: I have met so many amazing and interesting people through AFS—relationships that have enriched my career and led to meaningful friendships. AFS programming over the years has been invaluable in advancing my understanding of the business and the world around us. It’s been an honor to give back to an organization that offers so much to the industry. 

MC: Charlotte Pipe is a long-time Corporate Member. How has the foundry utilized its corporate membership benefits? 
Muller: As a Corporate Member, we take full advantage of the research and training available to us. We’ve also benefited tremendously from relationships we have forged—particularly as we embarked on designing and building a greenfield state of the art foundry, which we opened this fall. We’ve also benefited from AFS advocacy in Washington DC. AFS amplifies our voice in our nation’s capital through its more than 950 iron, steel, and aluminum corporate members and their suppliers in a way we never could on our own. 

MC: How do you encourage others in your company to be involved in AFS?  
Muller: Those who know me know I am a very strong advocate of getting involved in the AFS Government Affairs Committee and petitioning our elected officials in Washington. Not only would you be advocating for your business and our industry, but it is a great way to network and form lasting business relationships. And I believe it essential to maintaining the health of our industry as well as America’s manufacturing base and the hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs it comprises. If we don’t speak out for ourselves, no one else will. 

MC: What’s your goal for the society as current President? 
Muller: My goal is to provide steady leadership in guiding the board and society as we execute our strategic plan. Past presidents, boards, and the staff did a tremendous job navigating the Society through a very difficult period with Covid and the resulting economic turmoil and uncertainty over the last few years. I view my job now as a reassuring hand on the wheel to allow the staff to catch their breath, adjust to new realities and ways of work, and continue to build on past achievements in advocating, educating, and innovating on behalf of metalcasters.