Mike Montalbano
Mike Montalbano
Al Cron
Al Cron
The Arab (Ala.) Chamber of Commerce gave its Circle of Excellence Business Award to Walker Building Supply in Arab for the myriad efforts by owner Harry Walker and his wife Mary to assist community residents devastated by last April's tornadoes. Shane Hallmark, a 20-year employee at Walker Building Supply, was among the people killed in those twisters. Walker extended credit to many storm victims, discounted some products, and provided other goods for free, while some store employees helped families rebuild or repair their homes. … Mill Creek Lumber & Supply Co. hired former Hope Lumber and ProBuild leader Jim Cavanaugh as president of the company's lumber and millwork operations in Oklahoma and Kansas. It also named Steve Slater, another former ProBuild employee, as regional manager for the Oklahoma City area. … The Lumbermen's Association of Texas and Louisiana (LAT) plans April 13 to give its lifetime achievement award to Al Cron, a 40-year employee of Boise Cascade. It also will present the annual Ned Ball Louisiana Lumber Dealer of the Year award to Mike Diecidue of Dash Lumber & Supply in New Orleans. In addition, LAT will honor Gaiennie Lumber of Opelousas, La., as its Louisiana Associate Member of the Year and Montalbano Lumber of Houston (including president Mike Montalbano, pictured at right) as Texas Lumbermen of the Year. … Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., visited Bankston Lumber's yard and truss plant in Barnesville, Ga., in late March. Westmoreland grew up in the construction industry and ran a residential building company for 20 years. Bankston owner Chuck Bankston is chairman-elect of the National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA). … Judy Dinelle, a sales rep at 84 Lumber in Asheville, N.C., was named the National Association of Home Builders' Professional Women in Building (PWB) Council's National Member of the Year. … The Mid-South Building Material Dealers Association selected a new board for the year: Jim Smith of Home Hardware, Natchez, Miss., will serve as president; Tommy Chauvin of Chauvin Brothers, Chauvin, La., is president-elect; Doug Boykin of Rex Lumber, Brookhaven, Miss., is serving as first vice president; Bruce Fuller of Fuller Building Supply, Selma, Ala., is second vice president; and D.J. Ashy III of Doug Ashy Building Materials, Lafayette, La., is treasurer. … Greg Moss, previously president of Moss Lumber in Redding, Calif., joined the sales staff at The Mill Yard, an Arcata, Calif., lumber and building materials dealer. Moss Lumber closed in 2011. … BMC expanded its total line of credit with Wells Fargo Capital Finance, an arm of its working capital lender, to $125 million. The agreement extends the Boise, Idaho-based supplier's existing credit facility from $50 million to $75 million and includes a revolving feature that allows BMC to borrow up to an additional $50 million. … The Illinois Lumber & Material Dealers Association named Mary Murphy, a 27-year employee and current assistant director of the association, as its 2011 Lumberman of the Year. Murphy planned to retire from ILMDA at the end of March. … Do it Best Corp. appointed Gary Furst to the position of vice president of human resources, general counsel, and corporate assistant secretary. … Russin Lumber, a Montgomery, N.Y.-based distributor, hired Karl Bowers to be territory manager for eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. … Cedar Creek named D. Wayne Trousdale as COO. The company also elected Trousdale, Clark Wiens, and Dave Bond to its board of directors. … DMSi Software named Mike Limas vice president of customer service. … AZEK Building Products announced a distribution partnership with Gaiennie Lumber in Opelousas, La. Gaiennie will offer the full line of AZEK's exterior products to dealers in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi and 10 counties in Tennessee. … Jason Fraler, a former building products executive and co-founder of Building Industry Partners (which helped create US LBM) launched Anchor Peabody, a merchant banking firm offering private equity capital, mergers and acquisitions advisory and debt advisory to the building and construction industry. His advisory board includes Tony DeCarlo, former CEO of Lumbermens Merchandising Corporation. … Cox Industries agreed to acquire Atlantic Wood Industries' wood-treating plants and related operations in Georgia and Virginia. … Integrity Composites, a Maine-based manufacturer, announced it acquired the Duralife composite decking line from GAF Building Materials. … Cilio Technologies named Steve Becker a partner and vice president of sales and marketing. … The New Jersey Building Material Dealers Association has moved to Trenton. The new address is at www.njbmda.org.