People of the Year: Peter Alexander
The second annual HBSDealer People of the Year list includes some heavy hitters in the home improvement industry. These are executives who have displayed outside-the-box thinking, along with stick-to-your-guns discipline. They are the leaders of billion-dollar corporations, as well as family businesses. They are guiding huge mergers, and huge acts of charity.
In the next several issues of the HBSDealer Daily, we'll meet all of HBSDealer's People of the Year.
“We’re builders, not maintainers,” said Peter Alexander at the 2015 BMC National Meeting. “We’re leaders, not followers.”
That’s all the more true when you consider that BMC is hot off the heels of its own high-profile merger this year. In June, BMC and Stock Building Supply agreed to become one, forming a combined company that’s expected to have an implied pro forma enterprise value of $1.5 billion. In charge — as a builder and a leader — will be Alexander.
“The combination of our two highly complementary platforms will enhance our ability to provide customers with best-in-class products and services across an expanded geographic footprint,” he stated when the deal was formally announced. “We have great respect for what the team at Stock Building Supply has accomplished, and upon close of this transaction, I look forward to leading the combined team as we enter the next exciting phase of our transition and the ability to fund our growth.”
Indeed, Alexander’s landmark year didn’t come out of nowhere. He was appointed CEO in 2010 just months after joining the company as a director, and he’s been leading BMC into this next chapter of growth ever since.
For instance: Last year, BMC made itself known as a provider of finish products through the launch of BMC Design. A number of BMC Design Centers have sprung up since, including one this year that just opened in Dallas.
Then, in August, BMC acquired Robert Bowden, although to less fanfare than its deal with Stock.
As the year winds to a close, Alexander and his league are looking ahead to a strong balance sheet, strategic growth, and a widely expanded footprint in the South and West regions.