SPI's Board of Directors
SPI is honored to have this distinguished Board of Directors.
John R. Birk (Chairman) became a director of the Company in December 1998 and was elected Chairman in March 2004. He also serves as the Chairman of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee, having previously served as the Chairman the Audit Committee. Mr. Birk has been an Operating Executive with Evercore Partners, Inc. since February 1996. From January 1995 to September 1995, Mr. Birk served as President of Ideon Group, Inc., Chairman of Wright Express, Chairman of National Leisure Group and President of Hotline Travel, following Ideon’s acquisition of Wright Express where Mr. Birk was President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director from 1992 to 1995. Mr. Birk was President and a Director of Advo, Inc. from 1988 to 1992. Mr. Birk also served in a variety of executive roles at Sprint, Inc, including Group President, President of Sprint’s Northeast Division and President of US Telecom Communications Services Co. Mr. Birk also serves as a Director of Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises. (1), (2)
John T. Dillon became a director of the Company in 2005. John is Vice Chairman of Evercore Capital Partners and a Senior Managing Director of Evercore Partners. He is the retired Chairman and CEO of International Paper. John began his career at International Paper in 1965, serving in various capacities including VP and Group Executive for the Land and Timber Group in 1982, Executive VP for the Packaging Sector in 1987, President and COO in 1995, Chairman and CEO in 1996. He was elected to International Paper’s Board in 1991. He is currently on the Board of Caterpillar, DuPont, Kellogg, and Vertis, and a member of The Business Council. John also served as Chairman of the Business Roundtable, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, and Chairman of the Board of the American Forest and Paper Association. He was a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Trade Policy and Negotiations and served as Chairman of the Board of the National Council on Economic Education. (2)
W. Kirk Liddell became a director of the Company in December 1998. He has been President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Irex Corporation since 1984. Before joining the Irex organization, he was an associate for the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington & Burling. Mr. Liddell also serves on the boards of directors of High Industries, Inc., PCI Insurance, Inc., the National Association of Manufacturers, the Lancaster Alliance, and is Vice Chairman of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. (1)
James R. Matthews became a director of the Company in May 2007. He is a Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the private equity business at Evercore. Prior to joining Evercore, Mr. Matthews was a General Partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, where he worked for seven years and focused on investments in the information and business service sectors. Previously, Mr. Matthews was a General Partner of J.H. Whitney & Co., where he worked for six years, and started his career in Mergers & Acquisitions at Salomon Brothers Inc. Mr. Matthews serves on the board of directors of Ruesch International. Mr. Matthews received a B.S. degree from Boston College and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Robert M. Rayner became President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company in March 2004. He has extensive experience and a proven record in construction products and distribution. Most recently he was President and COO of Essroc Corp. a $600 million Sales North America producer and distributor of cement and other construction materials and served on several Boards. Prior to becoming President in 1994, Mr. Rayner was President of the Construction Materials Division and before that was CFO. In 2001, Mr. Rayner served as Chairman of the Board of the Industry Association - The Portland Cement Association. Prior to joining Essroc, for twelve years, Mr. Rayner held various positions in corporate finance and international business at Pepsi Co., Inc. and before that was a civil engineer in the U.K. for six years, with two years in Oman.
John O. Shirk became a director of the Company in December 1998. He has been a partner in the law firm of Barley, Snyder LLP, located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, since 1973 and was managing partner from 1983 to 1994. Mr. Shirk is a director Lancaster General Hospital, Fulton Financial Corporation, Pennfield Corporation, Educators Mutual Life Insurance Company and Irex. (2)
(1) Member of the Audit Committee
(2) Member of Human Resources/Compensation Committee