People News

Freeman Collliersville, Tenn.-based Orgill hired Laura Freeman to fill the newly created position of Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer. Freeman has spent the last several years in a similar executive position with Schnucks, a $3.2 billion St. Louis-based grocery chain operating 120 stores in multiple states.

American Builders Supply, the lumber and building materials distribution business based in Sanford, Fla., and a Kodiak Building Partners company, announced the promotion of George Wilkins to Senior Vice President of Operations. Wilkins served as Vice President of Strategic Planning & People Development at ABS. He previously served as Vice President of Operations at ABS for three years.

Zach Higgins has been promoted to CFO of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Ambassador Supply. A 15-year industry veteran, Higgins has been with Ambassador Supply for one year, starting as a senior controller. Prior to that, he was treasurer at Do it Best Corp. for six years.

Caterpillar announced that Dr. Lou Balmer -Millar will assume responsibility for the chief sustainability officer role in addition to her current responsibility as senior vice president of the Large Power Systems Division within the Energy and Transportation segment. She will report directly to Jim Umpleby, chairman and CEO. Balmer-Millar succeeds Julie Lagacy, who was Caterpillar’s first chief sustainability and strategy officer and is retiring February 1.

David Donald has been appointed vice president of operations for Saddle Brook, N.J.-based Arrow Fastener. Donald has worked in the industry for over 35 years. In his previous position at Stanley Black & Decker, he was responsible for the development and execution of the industrial business footprint strategy of its 65 global manufacturing sites.

Toni Arnold-McFarland has been tapped to lead John Deere’s efforts to advance diversity in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Since joining John Deere in 1998, the North Carolina State University mechanical engineering graduate has assumed numerous roles of increasing scope and responsibility, from product support specialist to manufacturing engineer to senior quality engineer.

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ArnoldMcfarland William (Bill) Christensen was appointed CEO of Jeld-Wen Holding, the window and door manufacturer. Christensen joined the company in April 2022 as executive vice president and president of Jeld-Wen Europe. Kevin Christensen Lilly, who served as interim CEO, will assume the role of executive vice president, global transformation. Lilly was appointed interim CEO in August following the resignation of former CEO Gary Michel.

Christensen Lumber’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing Tim Ferguson has been promoted to President of Christensen Lumber following Tom Christensen’s transition to chairman. Ferguson started Ferguson his career at Christensen in 1994 after graduating from Morningside College in Iowa. Kodiak Building Partners acquired Christensen Lumber in 2019.