The LMC team is pleased to announce Mike Tester as LMC’s new South Central Regional Manager!
For the past 23 years, he has served as LMC’s Southeast Regional Manager.
At present, Mike is preparing about to dive into his new role, region, and the dealers who come with it. He says he’s excited about the change because it offers a chance to replicate his work and success in the Southeast to grow in the South Central.
“Recruiting and bringing on new dealers have always been my strengths,” Mike says. “What I’m looking forward to most is building the relationships with those new dealers, learning and looking at a different area of the country. Every section of the country is a little different.”
Mike brings not only 23 years at LMC but a history in the lumber and building materials industry more generally. “I graduated from college and the next day started working at an OSB mill,” Mike says. Since 1988, he’s worked in the LBM industry before starting his career at LMC.
Mike's role before LMC was at a forest distrubutor. That same distributor who brought Mike to LMC. In 2000, the owner of the business was preparing to retire. Mike had already been instrumental in helping build a relationship between the distributor and LMC, so his boss picked up the phone to refer Mike into the regional manager role here at LMC.
That was 23 years ago, and a lot of Mike’s day-to-day industry has changed, partly because of his and the broader team’s successes in sharing LMC’s vision with dealers around the country.
“When I joined LMC in 2000, a huge percentage of the LMC dealers were long-standing dealers,” Mike says. “There’s a big difference today: over half our dealers today have joined in the 23 years that I’ve been around.”
It goes without saying that Mike’s role has and continues to mean working closely with dealers, particularly in the recruiting and onboarding phases of the partnership.
“Onboarding is so much more important to the role today because there are so many new dealers onboarding,” Mike explains. “While we used to onboard in two or three years, we now get them buttoned up in under a year.”
Mike’s passion for onboarding dealers comes from his enthusiasm for people as well as the role that LMC plays in the broader LBM industry.
“The LBM industry is a relationship-driven industry. Without a relationship, you can’t gain trust. People buy from people; they don’t buy products,” Mike says. “And I am a relationship person.”
These relationships are even more critical today than they were when Mike joined the team.
“The role that LMC provides is even more important today than it was 25 years ago. The drive to maintain our high relevance in the industry and what we do sets us apart for employees and our dealers. We’re always sure we’re out in front and stay that way, so it’s a great decision for any company to be a part of the success.”
Please join LMC in sharing our congratulations with Mike on his new position!