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14 n e w h a v e n B I Z | S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r 2 0 1 9 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m T R E N D I N G A Man of Steel Turns Trailblazer DOWNTIME C hris Ulbrich discovered a highly effective stress-reducer. Sometimes, when the pressures of work and life and whatnot surge upward toward the danger zone, the CEO of Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals Inc. in North Haven likes to unplug from work, unplug from his computer and phone and go for a nice long, quiet walk. Like, 185 miles of long and quiet. at's what Ulbrich did this summer, spending most of July on the northbound Appalachian Trail between Falls Village in Connecti- cut and Darby, Vt. (e entire trail extends 2,150 miles from Georgia to Maine and may be the world's best-known — and longest — pe- destrian thoroughfare.) Stress-reduction was certainly a motivator, but the principal reason Ulbrich embarked on his 24-day trek was a good cause: the "Ulbrich Trek to End Homeless- ness," which benefited Columbus House's Wallingford Emergency Shelter. Ulbrich crushed his orig- inal fundraising goal of $20,000, raising more than $35,000 from some 70 supporters pledging as little as a few cents per mile. Ulbrich is the third generation of Ulbrichs to run the family business, which has been around for 95 years and is now grooming its fih gen- eration of Ulbrich leadership. e family has also supported the Wall- ingford Emergency Shelter since Chris' father, Fred Ulbrich, began supporting the shelter as a volunteer more than a dozen years ago. "e homeless problem has evolved quite a bit," Ulbrich says. "It's no longer about simply pro- By Michael C. Bingham viding a meal and a place to sleep. Now it encompasses the full person — mental health, addiction issues, job training." e Wallingford shel- ter today is operated by Columbus House, which also operates shelters in its New Haven hometown and Middletown. "ey do a great job," Ulbrich says of the nonprofit. "I wanted to do this hike, and I thought, what a good way to raise some money" for a good cause. To make it even better, Ulbrich pledged to match $10,000 from his own bank account — "and aer that it just snowballed," he says. Bear and Grin It Ulbrich is a lifelong hiker and outdoorsman, having completed more than a dozen serious Out- ward Bound excursions — raing the Colorado River, hiking the Grand Canyon for a week at a time, and a month-long ropes course at Acadia National Park in Maine. On this year's excursion Ulbrich hiked alone for most of the 24 days, occasionally joined by friends for company on a day hike. But mostly, it was long. "It was humid, it was hot -- and I also hit six or seven days of rain. Some days are absolutely beautiful. Other days it's raining sideways, it's muddy, trees are falling. It was tough. Some days I did 15 miles; some days I did three miles [due to driving rain]. Plus, being 64 — I'm no spring chicken anymore." And it was quiet. "When was the last time you were away from tech- nology?" asks Ulbrich rhetorically. "Hearing nothing — no airplanes, no ads, no radio." And really alone — as in no cell service on most of the trail.` Ulbrich says he met hikers from ten countries along the trail, and encountered a number of "through hikers" — those walking the entire 2,000-plus miles of the trail, which can take about half a year. And not just people. "ere was an aggressive bear that was hang- ing around the Goddard shelter" in southern Vermont where he'd planned to stay overnight. "So they said, [to Ulbrich, not to the bear] 'Hey — you can't stay there.' ey ended up shooting the bear, and then everything was fine." But mostly it was a positive experience and lifetime milestone. Overall, "It worked out good," he says. "I had fun out there, met a lot of interesting people. "People [on the trail] are so nice," Ulbrich adds. "It's called 'trail magic.' Nobody's talking politics. One person gave apples [to other hikers]; another had cherries. I didn't raise my voice in 24 days. It's just so wonderful. We forget about all that." And in case you're wondering how the CEO of a substantial or- ganization like Ulbrich Steel could absent himself from the office for a whole month, Chris Ulbrich is sanguine. "No individual is more import- ant than the organization," he says. "We've got great people in place. We've been in business 95 years. I'm third-generation, and we're working on the fourth and fih generation [of the Ulbrich family to run the business]. I've got great support here. So I'm glad they didn't change the lock on my office door when I was out." n Walk this way: Chris Ulbrich weighs his options on the Appalachian Trail.

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