Beacon names Earl Newsome, Jr. to board

Beacon reported that it has added Earl Newsome, Jr. to its board of directors.

Newsome is a global information technology executive with over 30 years of leadership experience with Fortune 500 firms. He is currently Chief Information Officer, Americas IT for Linde PLC, a $28 billion global industrial gases and engineering firm formed by the merger of Linde and Praxair, Inc. 

He currently serves on the board of First Independence Bank and First Independence Corporation, a bank and related bank holding company, and Navisite, a managed cloud service provider. He also currently serves on the Innovation Advisory Council for Vation Ventures, an innovation management company. 

Newsome was captain in the U.S. Army and received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

“We are very pleased to welcome Earl and look forward to the diverse and wide-ranging experiences he brings to our Board of Directors,” said Julian Francis, Beacon president and CEO. “His deep digital and operational knowledge with highly-regarded multi-national public companies will be a valued asset as we drive organic growth and operational improvement through our four key strategic initiatives. Earl’s passion for improving the customer and employee experience as competitive levers for growth will benefit us as we strive to help all of our stakeholders reach their full potential.”

Mr. Newsome added: “I’m delighted to join Beacon’s high caliber board of directors. The company plays a pivotal role in the residential and commercial building products supply chain, and I’m looking forward to helping Beacon drive growth, leverage operational excellence and deliver shareholder value.”

Based in Herndon, Va, Beacon distributes roofing materials and complementary building products in North America, operating over 400 branches throughout all 50 states and Canada.