Built by the Industry,
for the Industry.
Steel Shire wasn’t born in Silicon Valley. It was built by two people who worked in the field, saw a gap the industry had accepted as normal, and refused to leave it that way.
Chuck Leppert and Jackson Nies were both working inside a large energy company when they started asking a question nobody wanted to answer: why are we managing right-of-way, GIS, and construction with tools that were never built for this work?
In 2011, they left their corporate jobs and went to build these solutions themselves.
Steel Shire Design, LLC was officially founded that year, not as a technology company that happened to serve infrastructure, but as a company that understood infrastructure first and built technology around it. Every solution, every feature, every workflow was shaped by clients who used it in the field and told us what wasn’t working.
For over a decade, Steel Shire grew entirely through word of mouth. No advertising. No trade show booths. Just clients who got real results and told other people. That’s how a company that started with a single contract became the trusted technology partner for some of the largest energy and infrastructure operators in the country.
Chuck Leppert
Steel Shire Design, CEO & Co-Founder
“We didn’t build software and go looking for a problem. We had the problem, lived it, and then built the solution.”
Meet Chuck & Jackson
Steel Shire Design exists because two people weren’t willing to accept the status quo. Here’s who they are.
Chuck is the face of Steel Shire and the reason clients stay. He spent his career integrating GIS and IT technologies inside a major energy company before co-founding Steel Shire in 2011. He knows the people, the politics, and the workflows of every major account — and he shows up in person because he believes that’s how real partnerships are built.
Beyond client relationships, Chuck keeps the platform running. He owns server operations, upgrade management, and the technical backbone that keeps clients up and running. His philosophy is simple: the technology should serve the work, not the other way around.
Chuck Leppert
CEO & Co-Founder
Jackson is the technical architect behind everything Steel Shire builds. He brought a full career of software development experience to the company when he co-founded it in 2011, and he’s been building and rebuilding ever since.
As CTO, Jackson leads the development team, manages product roadmaps, and serves as the person who translates vision into something that actually works. When clients describe a problem, Jackson hears the solution. He’s also the reason the name Steel Shire exists — Steel for the pipe, Shire for the land, Design because listening and creating is how they’ve always worked.
Jackson Nies
CTO & Co-Founder
Why we exist
We’re a customer service company that happens to use technology. We’ve grown through relationships, not campaigns. Clients come back, and they bring other clients with them. That’s only possible when the software actually fits the work — and when the people behind it are reachable, accountable, and genuinely invested in your outcomes.
One ecosystem.
Every phase of your project.
Over 15 years of listening to clients, we built a suite of tools that covers the full lifecycle of linear infrastructure projects — from right-of-way acquisition through construction, compliance, and reporting.
Small team. Deep expertise.
Real ownership.
Every person at Steel Shire carries real responsibility. When you work with us, you work with the people who built it.
Jake is the engine behind Steel Shire’s GIS automation layer. He builds Python integrations, automates analysis workflows, and publishes geoprocessing services that turn raw data into real project intelligence.
Jake Seboly
GIS Developer
Sara keeps the internal side of Steel Shire running — onboarding, payroll, benefits, and the organizational detail that lets everyone else focus on the work. She’s the reason things don’t fall through the cracks.
Sara Leppert
HR Coordinator
Tracy knows SkyRay better than almost anyone. She configures the platform for clients, runs complex reports, manages accounts, and keeps the day-to-day running smoothly. Her blend of technical depth and client instincts is rare.
Tracy Isbell
Database Developer & Account Manager
Brock leads Steel Shire’s full rebrand and market debut — the first time in company history we’ve gone public with our story. From go-to-market strategy to trade shows to the platform you’re reading this on, Brock owns it.
Brock Hamilton
Growth Marketing Manager
Alexander Mishulkou
Senior Full Stack Developer
Dzmitry Bulyhin
Senior Full Stack Developer