Nucor general manager and active community member Dave Smith is moving on.

Smith announced this week that he will become the vice president of Nucor's steel mill in Plymouth, Utah. Smith has worked at the Auburn plant for eight years.

He is currently the plant's general manager.

Smith cited as a reason for the move that the Plymouth plant is the company's largest bar mill.

The Auburn plant is the fourth-smallest of Nucor's 18 mills.

Smith said Nucor has set “a lot of milestones” while he was in Auburn. During his tenure, the plant put in two large capital projects without showing interruptions in earnings. If things go well, this will be the fifth year in a row that the plant posts record profits, Smith said.

“This is a great work force here in Auburn,” Smith said Wednesday. “People have a good work ethic, and their hearts and souls go into making this plant and community successful.”

Along with his work at Nucor, Smith has been very active in the community. He has served as the president of the Auburn Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees. He has also served on the Cayuga Community College Foundation.

Business leaders have obligations to the communities where they live and work, Smith said.

“I think we have an obligation to help out, and this steel mill and this community have always had a special relationship,” he said. “The city has done great by us, and I think we have done great by the city.”

Smith said he will be on site at the Utah plant by the end of June.

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.