Forest and building materials buying group Lumbermens Merchandising Corporation (LMC) announced that CEO and president John Somerville will retire in June. Somerville joined LMC in 2009 after previously working with Dow Chemical Company, holding several positions, including sales vice president of building materials North America.
The retiring executive also is a former board member for the National Lumber and Building Materials Dealers Association (NLBMDA), where he remains an active member. Somerville has more than 40 years of experience in the building materials and construction industry in total.
“The company’s financial and operational performance has been very strong over the past several years, and I am honored to have contributed to that success,” Somerville said in a prepared statement. “Given my love for the company and the strong working relationship with the board and our extraordinary management team, it was a very difficult decision to retire.”
Somerville said his intention is to ensure the LMC team “builds on our success as we move through 2021” until his replacement is secured.
During Somerville’s tenure, LMC grew by over 300% to exceed $5 billion in purchases in 2020. Under Somerville’s leadership, LMC experienced strong growth and stockholders were represented in all 50 states and the Bahamas for the first time in 2013.
“Today, LMC is firing on all cylinders and is doing so in no small part due to John’s superb efforts over the past decade,” LMC chairman Charlie Kreyer said. “While we are disappointed to see John leave, we thank him for his years of leadership and dedication, and for the exceptional results during his years of service.”
LMC has formed a search committee to identify Somerville’s replacement.
Wayne, Pa.-based LMC is owned by independent lumber and building materials dealers and has more than 1,400 dealer locations in the United States and the Bahamas.
