The CEOs of US LBM and Kodiak Building Partners--L.T. Gibson and Steve Swinney, respectively--will join the founder of equity firm Building Industry Partners, Matt Ogden, and CNRG COO John Sieggreen to discuss "6th Inning Strategies" in LBM mergers and acquisitions during the ProSales 100 Conference this coming March 1-3 in San Antonio, ProSales announced today.
Michael Collins, ProSales' "Big Deals" columnist and managing director of Building Industry Advisors, will lead the session on Friday morning, March 3. Collins chose "6th Inning Strategies" as the theme because he believes it symbolizes where we are in the buying cycle
A slew of acquisitions over the past few years have catapaulted US LBM into the top 15 of the ProSales 100 in the years since it was created out of parts that Stock Building Supply cast off during its bankruptcy-law reorganization. (See recent deals) US LBM also was ProSales' Dealer of the Year for 2015, and this year it won a Prosales Excellence Award for education. It currently ranks seventh on the ProSales 100.
Kodiak has enjoyed similar growth. (See recent deals.) Many of its leaders were key players at ProBuild during its rapid rise and subsequent downfall in the midst of the Great Recession. It's 13th on the PS100. Swinney was vice president of financial panning and analysis at ProBuild.
CNRG--short for Central Network Retail Group, a unit of Tyndale Advisors--has also grown quickly, building on an eclectic mix of dealers, hardware stores, home centers, and other supply outlets. It's 66th on the current ProSales 100. Sieggreen is chief operating officer of CNRG as well as of Tyndale. Previously, he was president at Wolohan Lumber in Michigan and led M&A activity at the former BMC West.
Building Industry Partners played a crucial role in US LBM's creation. In April, it created Homewood Holdings LLC to seek partnerships and acquisitions throughout California and the Pacific Northwest, and a month later it formed U.S. Fence Solutions Co. as a vehicle to invest in Split Rail Fence & Supply Co., a fencing and installation business serving Colorado's Front Range.
The M&A panel is an annual highlight of the conference, which brings together executives from the nation's biggest lumberyards and specialty dealers for insights, information, and inspiration. All three will be offered up in the 2017 keynoter: John Grotzinger, chief scientist and head of strategic science planning for NASA's $2.5 billion Curiosity rover mission to Mars--the most complex spacecraft ever to land and operate on another planet. Grotzinger led a team of more than 450 scientists as they worked through enormous challenges inherent in a mission whose objectives continue to fascinate explorers, entrepreneurs, and filmmakers today. Since 2003, Grotzinger also has worked on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers; the latter vehicle found evidence for liquid water. He also has led field missions to arctic Canada, Siberia, Africa, and Oman. For his space efforts, Popular Mechanics named Grotzinger No. 2 on its list of “10 Innovators who Changed the World.”
Grotzinger will speak to the ProSales 100 Conference about lessons in leadership, consensus building, and novel applications of technology. His presence continues a tradition at the conference of bringing in people from outside LBM with thought-provoking stories. Past keynoters include the man who discovered the Titanic, the mailroom clerk who became president of ESPN, and a key figure in the application of data to sports that became known as "Moneyball."
Aside from the M&A panel and Grotzinger, this year's conference also will include:
- An executive panel with leaders from companies like Hancock Lumber, GMS, 84 Lumber, and McCoy's Building Supply.
- A session on Six Sigma lean manufacturing featuring US LBM's lean expert and consultant Todd Drummond.
- A special economic outlook from Metrostudy chief economist Mark Boud.
- A special session on home health, led by Hayward Lumber's Bill Hayward and a Seattle remodeler who specializes in healthy homes.
- A panel of future leaders featuring the ProSales Four Under Four Class of 2017.
- Sales insights from "Sell Sheet" columnist Rick Davis.
- And editor-in-chief Criag Webb's updated "60 Ideas in 60 Minutes."
The conference is open to executives of lumberyards, specialty dealers, and distributors. Click here to get details and register to attend.
Attendance for building product manufacturers is limited to sponsors. To become a sponsor, contact Dan Colunio.
