Three senior operations, finance, and human resources leaders have joined Warner Robins Building Supply (WRBS), strengthening the management foundation of one of the region’s top building supply businesses, President Roger Farmer announced.

The new leaders are:

• Building products and LBM operations leader Art Cassidy, named Vice President of Operations and Purchasing. He will work closely with Director of Purchasing Clay Wilson.
• LBM finance executive Nick Witcher, who has been tapped to lead finance. He will work directly with long-time executive David Mahoney.
• Tawana Muhammad, a veteran HR leader, who will be WRBS’ Senior Human Resources Manager.

In addition to these key hires, Kathy Chamblee has been promoted to serve as WRBS’ Sales Manager. Chamblee previously led the Homework Division; her new charge is to drive exceptional customer service and responsiveness across the Sales team. 

All the leaders have deep roots in Georgia and collectively represent more than 60 years of building products and LBM industry experience.

WRBS and its sister companies, Henson Building Materials and Mountain Building Supply, are the foundation stones of the recently launched Southeast Building Supply Interests (SBSI), which is growing a portfolio of LBM dealers across the Southeast in partnership with the business’ employees. SBSI is sponsored by Building Industry Partners, the nation’s only building industry-focused investment firm, and was created with Farmer, who has led and grown market-leading LBM businesses for more than 25 years.

“We are laser focused on helping our customers and employees succeed,” Farmer said. “These new additions to our management team represent a meaningful step towards establishing a culture of customer service and accountability. WRBS has been the leading building materials distributor in this community since 1947, and we are excited to attract such an experienced team to lead us forward.”

Cassidy has been involved in construction supply since 1988, most recently as Vice President of Operations and Strategy Development at a division of Oldcastle specializing in precast concrete. Earlier at Oldcastle, he served as Vice President of Operations at its Atlanta-based Meadow Burke Building Products division, driving substantial improvements in operations and financial performance. Before that, he was a Supply Chain VP at ProBuild (at one time the nation’s biggest lumberyard chain), and a business leader at Marietta, GA-based Leeds Building Products and Hope Lumber.

Witcher’s 20 years of experience as a financial executive includes 11 years spent as Corporate Controller at Robert Bowden Inc., the renowned Marietta, GA-based millwork dealer that is now part of Builders FirstSource. He also spent seven years at the CPA firm Grant Thornton doing financial audits, and since August 2019 has directed all North American accounting and finance functions at Atlanta’s Cable Management / Atkore International Group, a manufacturer.

Muhammad has spent the past six years as a consultant to a number of manufacturing, distribution and service businesses, helping drive improvement in talent management/development, employee relations, performance management, and life and health benefits. From 2011 to 2015 she was BP America’s Global Talent Advisor and Program Manager, redesigning programs to greatly improve employee retention and dramatically increase the conversion of interns into full-time staffers. All told, she has been engaged in human resources work for 23 years.

"These new senior hires demonstrate the momentum and excitement at Warner Robins,” said Nick Massengill, a longtime building material executive in Georgia who now is a member of WRBS’ Board of Directors. “Kathy's promotion is a great example of the opportunities that will be presented to those committed to hard work and doing well by our customers and their fellow employees. I'm excited to see what this group will accomplish, and we look forward to adding even more experienced talent in the coming weeks and months."