Albert, 59, opened the steel pole manufacturing business in 2005 with Phil Parduhn, an industrial engineer-inventor and Oklahoma Hall of Famer whose family owns Pelco Products Inc. in Edmond.

“Phil Albert is no longer president of Pelco Structural, LLC,” Albert wrote in a text to the Tulsa World. “Mr. Albert is working with the Parduhn Family regarding their business relationships.

“Mr. Albert wishes Pelco Structural and all the other Pelco entities success in the future and is confident the companies are in good hands with the Parduhn Family and the talented and dedicated employees.”

Albert declined to elaborate on his departure.

Parduhn’s son Steve, president and CEO of Pelco Products, said by phone Friday morning that Albert no longer is employed by the company.

“At this point, that is all we can say,” Steve Parduhn said.

He said the company is discussing whether to hire an interim or permanent president at the Claremore venue.

“We will do a little reorganizing,” Steve Parduhn said. “We are very optimistic about prospects in the future. We have a lot of good stuff going.”

Albert, appointed by former Gov. Mary Fallin to the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents in 2016, has been recognized frequently for his achievements in business.

A former accountant who transitioned to manufacturing in 1981, he served as chairman of the Tulsa Regional Chamber in 2017, and in 2016 he received the Larry Mocha Advocacy Award, which is part of the Dream It Do It Manufacturing Excellence Awards.

The Tulsa World named Albert a Tulsan of the Year in 2017.

Albert’s other honors include an Oklahoma Center for the Achievement of Science & Technology award for services to the community in science and technology.

Pelco Structural designs, manufactures and markets steel poles for traffic control, utility, lighting, and communication industries in North America. The Parduhns founded Pelco Products in 1985.