STANLEY SNOWDEN NAMED PRESIDENT & CEO OF WALLACE HARDWARE
Wallace Hardware Company is starting 2003 with a new President. John D. Wallace, Chairman of Wallace Hardware Company, today announced that Stanley Snowden will now oversee the company's day-to-day operations as President and CEO. John Wallace, formerly President and CEO, will remain Chairman of Wallace Hardware and a member of the Denver-based PRO Group's board of directors.
 

John Wallace has been President and CEO of Wallace Hardware since 1959. During his tenure, the Wallace group of companies has grown to over $100 million in annual sales. John Wallace started with the company on a part time basis in 1936 at the age of eight. He has actively contributed his time and talents with the company since then. Snowden, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, has worked for Wallace Hardware in various positions since he was a teenager. He served Wallace Hardware most recently as Senior Vice President. Snowden previously managed Wallace Hardware's sister company, Walker's Supply, a plumbing wholesaler in Alcoa, Tennessee, as president for 21 years. He retains this position.

Stanley Snowden (click to enlarge)

Mr. Wallace stated, "Stanley Snowden has been an integral member of Wallace Hardware's management team, and we have great confidence in his ability to direct our continued growth. He has many unique abilities and an intuitive leadership style that have proven to be an asset to us." Other members of Wallace Hardware's senior management team include Lynn Dawson, Richard Snowden, Bill Trusler, Doyle Wallace, Kris Sigler, John Cahill, and Gary Hardin.
 
Wallace Hardware joined the PRO Group in 1964 and currently markets the PRO Hardware, FARM MART and GOLDEN-LINK programs to more than 2,000 retailers in 12 states. Wallace has earned a reputation in the industry as a company with strong moral and ethical focus. Steve Synnott, Vice President of PRO Group, said, "As Wallace Hardware enters the company's 40th year as a PRO Group distributor member, we applaud Mr. Wallace for his many years of strong leadership and welcome Stanley Snowden as he officially takes over management of the company's day-to-day operation."

BOSTWICK-BRAUN COMPANY PROMOTES BOLLIN & CANNING
The Bostwick-Braun Company is promoting two members of the company's senior management team following the January 1, 2003 retirement of Dick Smith, the employee-owned company's former Chairman.
 

Bill Bollin        (click to enlarge)

Bill Bollin, formerly President and CEO, has been named Chairman of the Board and will remain CEO. Bill Bollin has been with Bostwick-Braun for 32 years. Former Executive Vice President, Elaine Canning, who has been with the company for 16 years, has been named President and Chief Operating Officer. Bostwick-Braun is a long-time member of PRO Group, and Bill Bollin serves on PRO Group's board of directors. Bostwick-Braun was recently named PRO Group's Distributor of the Year based on its overall sales growth, commitment to quality and innovative programs. Bostwick-Braun has earned this honor six times in the past seven years.

Bostwick-Braun has made significant achievements in the hardware industry, and has had 190-plus months of successive profitability. The company's continuous success has made it possible for management to invest in new technologies and to acquire other companies through the years, expanding its Ohio and Indiana distribution centers. Bostwick-Braun was the first in the hardware industry to install a fast-pick carousel in the distribution center, allowing the company to increase the stocking capacity of the distribution center by 3,500 SKUs and enabling Bostwick-Braun to triple its rate of lines picked per hour.

Bollin credited Dick Smith for much of the company's success. Canning added, "Dick was always a straight shooter and always had the company's long-term best interests at heart. Thanks in large part to his leadership, we have been consistently profitable and have had the financial resources to take advantage of opportunities for growth."   PRO Group is at the heart of Bostwick-Braun's marketing efforts, according to Bollin. "Without the PRO programs, we might be among the industry distributors who are no longer around," he said. "We have had a partnership with PRO for many years and have a total commitment to supporting our PRO retailers and PRO

Elaine Canning         (click to enlarge)

vendors. As a result of that we have been able to really focus our efforts on the customer and on a specific group of retailers and vendors."
 
Innovation and new technologies aside, Bollin and Canning stated that the biggest asset Bostwick-Braun has is its people. "We are guided by our core values … honesty, fairness and empathy," Bollin stated.
 
Canning added, "These are things we want to be doing consistently, whether we are dealing with customers, each other or our suppliers."
 
PRO Group CEO, Richard Paige, added "John Wallace, Dick Smith, and Bill Bollin have enhanced PRO Group and the industry as a whole, as a result of their strong character and leadership as well as their devotion to adding value to PRO Group and to the Hardware Industry.