Roseburg unveils CEO succession plan
Roseburg, the lumber, forest products, and building materials producer, has announced a CEO succession plan.
President and CEO Grady Mulbery will retire from his position, effective Sept. 30.
As part of this planned leadership succession, Roseburg’s board of directors unanimously elected Chief Operating Officer Stuart Gray to succeed Mulbery as president and CEO, effective Oct. 1.
Mulbery will remain on Roseburg’s board of directors through the end of 2023 and serve as an executive advisor through 2024.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve Roseburg and I look forward to life’s next chapters,” Mulbery said. “I am very grateful for the many opportunities and experiences I’ve had here. I am extremely proud of our leadership team and our team members, and their unwavering commitment to safety, each other, and our customers.”
Mulbery began his wood products career as a facility manager for Willamette Industries at its Eugene, Ore., MDF facility in 1999. He held various management positions at Weyerhaeuser Company from 2002 to 2007. Before joining Roseburg, he served as director of operations for SierraPine.
During 12 years of service to the company, Mulbery held increasingly senior roles, first as vice president of composites, then as vice president of operations, and since 2016, as president and CEO.
During his time as CEO, Mulbery presided over a period of growth for Roseburg, including expansion of the company’s timberland holdings in the Southeast and the addition of manufacturing operations on the East Coast and into Canada.
Mulbery also led the company’s entry into medium-density fiberboard manufacturing and oversaw the construction of new engineered wood product and lumber manufacturing facilities in North and South Carolina.
“During Grady’s tenure, Roseburg has grown considerably and established a stronger and more diversified portfolio in the timber and wood products industry,” said Roseburg’s owner and Chairman Allyn Ford. “His deep industry experience and focused leadership during his time as CEO have earned him the utmost respect of Roseburg’s team members, customers, board of directors, and owners, as well as key constituents throughout the wood products industry.
With deep roots in the construction and building supply industry, Gray joined Roseburg in 2017 as senior vice president and general counsel, overseeing the company’s strategic business development, legal, compliance, and environmental teams.
“With the company well positioned for continued success, we believe now is the time to begin the transition to the next generation of leadership,” Ford said. “At the conclusion of a multi-year development and succession process, we are confident in Stuart’s leadership, commitment to our culture and team members, and demonstrated ability to drive continued growth.”
In January 2022, Gray was appointed chief operating officer and assumed responsibility for the company’s manufacturing business.
Based in Springfield, Oregon, Roseburg holds about 600,000 acres of timberlands.
In April, the company announced that it planned to invest $700 million over the next four years to upgrade and expand its manufacturing operations in Southern Oregon, where the company was founded nearly 90 years ago.
The investment includes the creation of two new, state-of-the-art manufacturing plants, and technological improvements and upgrades at existing plants in rural Douglas and Coos counties.
The total project represents the largest ever known investment in manufacturing in rural Oregon and is one of the largest private capital investments in the state’s history, Roseburg said.
The company is privately held and was founded in 1936 by Kenneth Ford in Roseburg, Oregon.
