ABC Supply announced its 2024 Ken Hendricks Award recipients: Kurt Smith, managing partner of the Louisville, Ky., location, and Leon Clark, Mountain West District manager.

The company said each recipient has “consistently demonstrated their unwavering dedication to supporting their teams, communities and customers” and expressed its elation in recognizing their leadership. The Ken Hendricks Award, named after ABC Supply’s late co-founder, recognizes associates who demonstrate a commitment to the company’s character and core values.

“Kurt and Leon are exceptional leaders who have consistently guided their teams to success, time and time again,” said Keith Rozolis, president and CEO of ABC Supply. “Their dedication to leading their respective teams with care and integrity is what drives the incredible success they’ve achieved.”

Clark joined ABC Supply in 2002 as a branch manager after the company acquired Cameron Ashley. Throughout his 21-year tenure, the company said, Clark has demonstrated “remarkable leadership,” initially overseeing the Ogden, Utah, location.

In 2005, he was named managing partner. Recognized for his achievements, Clark was inducted into ABC Supply’s President’s Club in 2007 and awarded Manager of the Year in 2009. Under his leadership, the Ogden, Utah, location achieved ‘Gold Center of the Year’ in both 2012 and 2016. In 2016, he transitioned to the role of business manager for the West Region and was promoted to Mountain West District manager in 2022.

Smith joined ABC Supply in 1998 as branch manager at the company’s Louisville, Ky., location. During his 25-year tenure, the Louisville location has consistently excelled, receiving a “Center of the Year” award for an impressive 16 years.

The accolades include four Gold-level awards, five Platinum-level awards and seven Diamond-level awards. In 2006, he was inducted into ABC Supply’s President’s Club. Two years later, Smith was made a managing partner at ABC Supply and honored as Manager of the Year.

ABC Supply said Smith has excelled in business throughout his career with the company, fostering a “supportive atmosphere for his team” and making meaningful contributions to his local community through programs like Operation Care.

“Each year, it is truly an honor to recognize the powerful impact that the award recipients have on their teams,” says ABC Supply Chairman Diane Hendricks. “Associates like Kurt and Leon, who lead with courage and compassion, are what makes ABC Supply such an exceptional community."

Photo courtesy of the Iowa Economic Development Corporation

Beacon announced the appointment of Prithvi "Prith" Gandhi as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Gandhi joined Beacon on May 1 and assumed his role as CFO the week of May 6.

Prior to joining Beacon, Gandhi was vice president, finance and chief financial officer at TAMKO Building Products, a roofing products manufacturer and supplier, for the last two years, where he led initiatives that drove business insights and financial leverage, resulting in improved operational performance. Prior to TAMKO, he served as chief financial officer of Fast Radius, a 3D printing business that went public in 2022.

“I am very pleased to welcome Prith to the Beacon executive leadership team,” said Julian Francis, president and CEO, Beacon. “Prith’s strong growth orientation, extensive M&A experience and capital markets expertise will strengthen Beacon as we complete Ambition 2025 and continue to grow above the market.”

Before joining Fast Radius, he worked for eight years at Owens Corning, serving in progressively more senior finance roles, including vice president, FP&A and corporate strategy and vice president, corporate development and culminating as interim chief financial officer.

Earlier in his career, Gandhi held corporate strategy and development roles at Dover Corp, Zebra Technologies Corporation and Morgan Stanley. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from the University of California-Berkeley, a master’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“It is an honor to join the highly experienced and successful leadership team at Beacon, a company that is recognized as a high-performing innovator in building products distribution," said Gandhi. "I am excited about the opportunity to work with Julian again following our collaboration at Owens Corning and am eager to drive Beacon’s strategic plan forward to create value for all stakeholders.”

Long Island, N.Y.-based roofing, siding and window contractor King Quality Construction has been recognized as a 2023 3-Star President’s Club Award winner.

Each year, GAF, a Standard Industries company and one of North America’s largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturers, selects the most elite roofing contractors certified by GAF to receive its prestigious Master Elite President's Club Award.

According to GAF, the annual recognition celebrates contractors who showcase exemplary efforts in high-quality service and leadership in the roofing industry nationwide.

“At King Quality, our goal is to deliver the best customer experience possible and exceed expectations every day,” said King Quality CEO Jeff Brett. “It’s an honor to receive GAF’s 3-Star President’s Club Award, a recognition that underscores our commitment to providing the highest levels of excellence in ... reliability and performance.”

GAF Master Elite President's Club Award winners are selected from an elite group of roofing contractors that must first demonstrate proper licensing (in states that require it), maintain insurance, a proven reputation, and a commitment to ongoing professional training. In addition, qualifying contractors must also have met the criteria to earn the designation of a GAF Master Elite residential contractor.

“The GAF Master Elite President's Club Award is given to contractors each year who have distinguished themselves through their commitment to providing high-quality of work and exemplary level of service to customers,” says Bobby Fischer, vice president of partner programs at GAF.

Photo courtesy of the Iowa Economic Development Corporation

Elevate, the roofing, wall and lining systems manufacturer, announced the grand opening of a new production and distribution facility in Salt Lake City.

The new plant is the latest in a series of capital investments Elevate has made since its acquisition by Holcim in 2021. The LEED-certified green facility incorporates materials from across the Holcim and Elevate portfolios in its construction and design.

In a news release, the company said its state-of-the-art plant has the potential to triple the production capacity of Elevate ISOGARD polyiso insulation in the region and add a production line for Elevate UNA-CLAD metal products — all to better serve customers in the West.

“The opening of this new facility is an exciting milestone as we continue to grow and focus on our valued customers, as well as a testament to the capabilities of our high-performing, innovative and sustainable products,” says Kristin Beck, president, Elevate Commercial Roofing Systems & Lining.

According to Elevate, the facility streamlines operations in the Western region, with connections to the local rail system for optimized distribution, reduced impact on the local community and its roads and a reduced carbon footprint resulting in "shorter wait times and better product availability for Elevate customers in the region."

The new plant prioritized sustainability and used Holcim's FortiCem, a low-carbon cement that reduced CO₂ emissions in the footings, foundation, floors, and tilt panels. This was the first commercial project in the Salt Lake City area to use this innovative cement.

The plant’s roof has Elevate UltraPly TPO roofing membrane, Elevate ISOGARD insulation and Elevate SunWave skylights. The walkways and loading docks have anti-slip coatings from American Safety Technologies and PolySpec THIOKOL primer. The roof was installed by Utah-based Redd Roofing, an Elevate Platinum Council and Hall of Fame member.

""cuLynx, a provider of business management software for roofers, announced that it launched a number of updates to its software.

The updates simplify aspects of its workflow and add new capabilities to the platform, offering new and improved ways to share sales proposals, connect AccuLynx accounts with third-party apps, manage job financials and invoices and a revamped mobile Field app, the company said in a news release.

"Listening to our customers has always been at the heart of our product development philosophy at AccuLynx," said Mark Rattin, vice president of product at AccuLynx. "By prioritizing their needs, we ensure that AccuLynx continues to provide an unparalleled solution for roofing contractors."

Updates to the AccuLynx product suite include:

• Roofing proposal creation and optimized document management with the introduction of Smart(er) Docs, a redesigned feature enhancement within AccuLynx. Smart(er) Docs offers a new document editor that allows for more customization and faster packet creation, presentation display and sharing, reminders and expiration dates for eSignatures and document status information.
• New marketplace where users can explore enhancements for their AccuLynx account, including add-on features, partner integrations and connections, as well as API tools.
• New AppConnections feature, which provides access to pre-built data connections with apps like CompanyCam, Angi Leads, Angi Ads, and Hatch — as well as advanced APIs that allow customers to establish tailored connections to other third-party software.
• Enhancements to the AccuLynx mobile Field App. It can now access company documents, duplicate lead alerts, calendar view filtering, and chronological photo display.
• Widgets for a phone's home screen that provide shortcuts to AccuLynx Leads, Photos and Job Watch List.
• Financial and invoicing enhancements features with an improved interface; reorganized page layouts; better drag-and-drop capabilities; and new financial displays, including a "balance to complete" column.
• Additional capabilities include the display of negative job values and changes to approved amendments.

"These updates underscore our commitment to providing tools that streamline workflows and bolster sales opportunities for roofing contractors," says Mike Stein, CEO of AccuLynx. "AccuLynx continues to push the envelope to drive growth and profitability for our customers."

For more information, visit acculynx.com.

Photo courtesy of the Iowa Economic Development Corporation