Skyline Chili Taps Carl Stealey to Lead Next Growth Phase

Skyline Chili is handing its next growth phase to an executive whose résumé spans restaurant operations, consumer products and some of the biggest packaged-food companies in the country.

Carl Stealey has been named CEO of the Cincinnati-based chain, succeeding Dick Williams, who will remain chairman and continue working on strategy. The leadership transition, announced September 14, comes after a substantial investment cycle that has touched Skyline’s restaurants, headquarters, commissary and grocery business.

Stealey joins from The Honey Baked Ham Company, where he served as chief commercial officer. Before that, he spent six years as president of the retail division at The Marzetti Company, where he helped grow the business beyond $1 billion in annual revenue. His earlier roles included senior positions at Conagra Brands, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Procter & Gamble.

That background matters because Skyline is no longer operating solely as a regional restaurant chain. Its signature Cincinnati-style chili still anchors the business, but the company has been extending the brand into grocery aisles, catering, collaborations and new menu occasions. Skyline now sells products including Greek dressing, hot sauce, chili dip, cheese and oyster crackers, alongside its canned and frozen chili.

The company has also tested Chicken Chili and breakfast offerings, expanded catering and partnered with brands such as Graeter’s Ice Cream, Dewey’s Pizza, Braxton Brewing and Rookwood Pottery. A limited-edition Skyline flavor with Graeter’s sold out quickly, giving the company a useful proof point for turning local loyalty into broader consumer-product demand.

Skyline’s financial momentum is solid but not explosive. Technomic data cited by Nation’s Restaurant News put 2025 sales at roughly $262.3 million, up 3.4% from the prior year, with 136 restaurants in the system. The chain has invested tens of millions of dollars in a rebuilt and modernized commissary, renovated its Cincinnati headquarters and upgraded existing locations.

Stealey’s assignment is to make that spending compound. He has said his initial focus will be preserving Skyline’s highly specific identity while finding more ways to introduce it to consumers outside its traditional footprint. That is a delicate brief: expand the brand without sanding off the regional character that made it valuable in the first place.

Williams, whose family acquired an interest in Skyline in 2020, will remain close to the decision-making. Stealey gets the operating seat.