PROFILE
George is a President, CEO, and change management executive with an outstanding record of leading restructurings, spin-offs, and turnaround situations. He is passionate about developing people and is recognized as a strong customer advocate, spending significant time visiting customers of all sizes to understand their market needs. He brings a background in operations, sales, and marketing and expertise with private-equity and public companies, IPOs, and M&A.
George is currently a strategic advisor for Blue Wolf Capital Partners. From 2015-2018 George was the CEO of PrimeSource Building Products, Inc., the largest distributor of construction fasteners and one of the largest distributors of non-lumber building products in North America. Before PrimeSource Mr. Judd was the President and CEO of Snappy Corporation, a large national HVAC manufacturer headquartered in Marietta, Ga. George transitioned from a board role to the CEO role, rebuilt the management team, rationalized manufacturing facilities and repositioned the company for profitable growth and acquisitions.
Mr. Judd has also served as President and COO of BlueLinx Holdings from 2004 to 2008, and was President and CEO from 2008 to 2013. As President and COO, he was instrumental in guiding the company’s transition from a division of Georgia-Pacific Corporation to an independent, publicly held company. George led the sales planning process, including the introduction of value-added and BlueLinx-branded products and a reorientation of the sales-force culture and compensation. He also removed three layers from the management structure, improving communications, speeding decision making, and boosting employee morale, and achieved a 3% annual improvement in the productivity of the 2,000-person, hourly work force. Later, as President and CEO, George led the company through the deepest housing recession in history, restructuring and re-capitalizing to maintain a national presence and position BlueLinx for market recovery. He reduced fixed operating expenses by $90 million (12%) and restructured the balance sheet, raising $100 million in equity, refinancing the debt, and negotiating more flexible terms and lower fees on the ABL facility. At the same time, he directed the launch of the company’s e-commerce strategy and expanded the percentage of sales derived from value-added and BlueLinx-branded products. Throughout the restructuring and cost-cutting efforts, the company maintained an industry-leading OSHA incident rate below 2%, driven by George’s commitment to a safety-first culture.
During his 20 year career at Georgia-Pacific, George held a series of positions managing sales, operations, and production in the Building Products Distribution Division. In each of these roles, he successfully led turnarounds, generating sales and profit growth at previously underperforming regions and operations.
Judd serves on the Advisory Board of DOCU-SIGN and as an advisor to Ajustco. He served on the Board of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing from 2000 to 2013.