Masonite Names Howard C. Heckes President and Chief Executive Officer

May 02, 2019 07:00 am
TAMPA, Fla. -- 

Masonite International Corporation (“Masonite” or “the Company”) (NYSE: DOOR) today announced that Howard C. Heckes has been named President and Chief Executive Officer, effective June 3, 2019. He will also join Masonite’s Board of Directors at that time. Mr. Heckes succeeds Fred Lynch, who previously announced his intention to retire.

Heckes is a seasoned executive who brings more than three decades of leadership, operational, sales and marketing expertise to Masonite. Mr. Heckes currently serves as CEO of Energy Management Collaborative, a privately held company providing LED lighting and controls and IoT conversion systems and service solutions. Previously, Mr. Heckes spent nine years in a variety of senior operations roles at Valspar Corporation, most recently overseeing Valspar’s Industrial Coatings portfolio, which included four global operating divisions with approximately $2.5 billion in revenue, 40 manufacturing facilities, and 5,100 employees in 38 countries. Mr. Heckes also held various leadership roles at Newell Rubbermaid, including President of Sanford Brands, President of Graco Children’s Products and President of Goody Products, in which he demonstrated significant ability to drive organic top line growth and implement cost and operational discipline to expand margins.

Robert J. Byrne, Chairman of the Masonite Board, said, “Today’s announcement is the culmination of a comprehensive search process that included numerous strong internal and external candidates. We are thrilled to welcome Howard to the Masonite team. Howard has a distinguished, proven track record of developing powerful insights, acting upon them decisively, and delivering strong results. The Board is confident that he is ideally suited to lead Masonite forward, building on the transformational change that Fred Lynch executed over his nearly 13-year tenure. With his motivational and inspirational leadership style, Howard will continue our unwavering commitment to delivering outstanding value to our customers and shareholders.”

Mr. Heckes said, “I have developed a great admiration for Masonite’s progress under Fred Lynch’s leadership. The core values of the company are consistent with my own: a commitment to innovation, operational excellence and delivering results. I am truly excited to continue to leverage the Company’s momentum and competitive position to maximize the significant value inherent in Masonite. I look forward to working with the Board, management team and the thousands of Masonite employees around the world to deliver outstanding products and superior service to our customers while enhancing shareholder value.”

Mr. Lynch said, “It has been an honor to serve as Masonite’s President and CEO for more than a decade and to help our organization continuously deliver on its vision to be the best provider of building products in the eyes of our customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and communities. I’m fortunate to have been a part of such a talented, dedicated team that is committed to revolutionizing the door industry and helping people walk through walls. I am confident in the Company’s prospects for growth and value creation under Howard’s leadership. I know that his appreciation for Masonite’s purposeful culture, people and customers make him a great choice to serve as the company’s next leader.”

About Howard C. Heckes

Howard Heckes, 54, has a successful history of driving growth and margin improvement at the companies he has led. Mr. Heckes currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Energy Management Collaborative, a privately held company providing LED lighting and controls and IoT conversion systems and service solutions based in Plymouth, Minnesota. In this role he implemented efficient and scalable business systems and processes to support the Company’s rapid organic growth. Prior to that, Howard spent nine years at Valspar, from 2008 to 2017, where he served as Executive Vice-President and President of Global Coatings, with responsibility for M&A strategy and delivering financial objectives for the entire Industrial Coatings portfolio. He also previously served as Valspar’s Senior Vice President, Global Consumer, with responsibility for leading Valspar’s Global Consumer Products portfolio, which included major branded consumer paint companies across the U.S., China, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Prior to joining Valspar, Mr. Heckes held various leadership roles at Newell Rubbermaid, including President of Sanford Brands, President of Graco Children’s Products and President of Goody Products.

Mr. Heckes holds a Master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Iowa State University.

About Masonite

Masonite International Corporation is a leading global designer and manufacturer of interior and exterior doors for the residential new construction; the residential repair, renovation and remodeling; and the non-residential building construction markets. Since 1925, Masonite has provided its customers with innovative products and superior service at compelling values. Masonite currently serves approximately 9,000 customers in 64 countries. Additional information about Masonite can be found at www.masonite.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and/or U.S. securities laws, including our discussion of Mr. Heckes’ appointment and future service as our President and Chief Executive Officer, and his impact on our prospects. When used in this press release, such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of such words as “plans”, “intends”, “may,” “might,” “could,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “believes,” “outlook,” “predict,” “forecast,” “objective,” “remain,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” “plan,” “project,” “targeting,” or the negative of these terms or other similar terminology. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual events to be materially different from any future plans, objectives or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. As a result, such forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future events, and should not be unduly relied upon. Factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Mr. Heckes’ success in implementing our business strategy and otherwise serving as our President and Chief Executive Officer.

Investor Contacts:
Joanne Freiberger, CPA, CTP, IRC
VP, TREASURER
[email protected]
o // 813.739.1808 

Farand Pawlak, CPA
DIRECTOR INVESTOR RELATIONS
[email protected]
o // 813.371.5839

Media Contacts:
Michael Freitag, Adam Pollack or Sophie Throsby
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212.355.4449