Management Team

Our Management Team, while relatively young and energetic, collectively possess over 100 years of experience specifically in the building supply business. This same group has had direct responsibility for the management and oversight of more than 25 individual building supply operations, including 6 different individuals who have managed a location for a national building material supplier.

Key Personnel
Our most important asset is our people. Our truck drivers and warehouse personnel are treated with the same level of respect as our owners. Our philosophy is simple; if we hire the best people, take care of them, treat them with honesty and respect, they will, in turn, do the same for our customers.

Van Isley
President

Professional Builders Supply was Van’s brainchild born out of a desire to be closer to home, a burning entrepreneurial instinct and a frustration with the lack of focus on the customer and the employee at a big company. Van saw a unique opportunity in a market where the local, custom builder was quickly being overlooked by most suppliers. He put together a team of highly qualified employees and a team of investors who were not only highly regarded businessmen but also personal friends.

Van grew up in Burlington, North Carolina where his father was a custom home builder. He attended East Carolina University and graduated with a B.S. Accounting. He became a Certified Public Accountant while working in Raleigh with Price Waterhouse. After 8 years in public accounting, Van decided he wanted to do something different and he signed on with a national building material dealer in their management training program. After opening and managing a location in Greenville, SC, he spent 5 years managing a large operation in the Atlanta area. He then returned to Raleigh as a Regional Manager responsible for 15 locations in North and South Carolina.

With 10 years of building material experience under his belt, Van launched Professional Builders Supply. Today he leads our strategic planning efforts and maps the vision and future growth of the company. Van is a member of the Board of Directors of the Raleigh/Wake County Home Builders Association. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Southern Building Materials Association and the College of Business Advisory Council at East Carolina University.

Van, his wife Jennifer and their sons Jake and Johnny reside in Raleigh.

Troy Wilkerson
Vice President

Troy has over 15 years of experience in the building materials business including setting up and managing 3 different operations for a national dealer prior to being on the start up team at Professional Builders Supply. Originally from Angier, NC, Troy’s career has provided exposure to a number of different facets of the building supply business. A former location manager and market distribution manager for a national building material dealer, Troy has a unique ability to develop processes and systems that yield unequalled efficiencies coupled with exemplary levels of customer service. Troy directs all drivers, warehouse, receiving, shop, and service personnel. Troy’s efforts are currently focused on identifying, constructing and launching our second location and increasing our presence in the Johnston and Harnett County area.

Troy and his wife Lynne reside in Angier.

Steve Lochbaum
Vice President, Finance & Administration

Steve came to the Company with over 27 years experience as CFO, Controller, Consultant and Certified Public Accountant. His background includes experience in Finance, Treasury, Information Systems, Human Resource and Administrative management, which made him a perfect fit for leading our administrative services team.

Steve began his professional career in the Raleigh office of Price Waterhouse, which is where he first met Van Isley. After 8 years in public accounting, Steve left to spend 18 years with Morganite / Energy Conversion Systems, a global manufacturer of electric motor components for the consumer product and automotive markets. Steve’s strong quality and six sigma background has provided fresh insight and ideas for our business. He clearly shares our passion for customer service and leads our administrative team in adherence to our Customer Commitment – the backbone of our success.

Steve, his wife Cindy and their four children, Katherine, Marshall, Christian and Richard reside in Raleigh.

Terry Thompson
Purchasing Manager

Terry has over 25 years experience in the building materials business. He has played numerous roles in the industry including store manager, purchasing manager and operations manager. Terry's experience includes stops in several cities throughout the Southeast. Terry currently leads and directs all purchasing, procurement and vendor management efforts.

Mike Brown
Vice President - Sales & Marketing

Mike has over 20 years of experience in the building material industry.  He has held numerous positions with a national dealer including store manager, market manger, and national accounts manager. 
Mike brings a unique perspective to Professional Builders Supply – one that incorporates an in depth understanding of the local, custom builder and the national production builder.  Mike manages and directs the efforts of the Sales Team and our installation programs.  He and his wife Ellen reside in Apex.

Matt Vordermark
Vice President – Operations

Matt currently manages and directs all delivery, warehouse and service personnel at
Professional Builders Supply.  He previously served as a Store Manager, Outside Sales Representative and Sales Manager at a national building material dealer.  Having been in the field as a frontline sales representative, he clearly understands the needs of our customers. 
Matt grew up in Texas, is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute
and currently resides in Morrisville.

Sales Team

Our sales team is comprised of 11 Account Managers who are supported administratively by 4 Account Coordinators. With a varied range of experiences and backgrounds this group shares one commonality: a burning desire to provide the customer with a level of service that is unequalled. Collectively this group possesses more than 125 years of experience in the building or building material distribution business! As such, when you elect to purchase your materials from Professional Builders Supply, you have 125 years of experience working for you.

Kevin Kusilek
Premium Window Division Manager

Kevin recently joined Professional Builders Supply after 20 years with the Andersen Window Company. We quickly realized that premium windows require a depth of experience and a wealth of knowledge. Kevin focuses exclusively on our Premium Window brands.

Kevin and his wife Cindy live in Raleigh with their two children Connor  and Brie.

Administrative Team

Beth Tanner, Mary Jackson, Erika Rountree, Marissa Hansen and Jennifer Isley comprise our administrative team led by Steve Lochbaum. Our company roster includes 3 licensed CPA’s and a wealth of administrative experience where the focus is clearly on making our company “easy to do business with”.

Customer Commitment
Our Customer Commitment serves two purposes: it communicates to our customers what they can expect from us and it serves as a job description for our employees. This is not something that simply collects dust. Rather, it’s a way of life at PBS! Click here to read Professional Builder's Supply Customer Commitment >>

Success Stories

We have coined terms including “hyper-sensitive customer service” and “performing the ridiculous” to describe what we do every day. “…it’s about the service!!!” is not just a tag line, it’s a way of life.

To reinforce this concept, we routinely collect “success stories” about how our Associates have done just that. While a visit to our lobby will provide you a more comprehensive view of these stories, we have included a few interesting examples of what has become part of the culture at Professional Builders Supply:

In January, a Professional Builders Supply (PBS) truck carrying a large entry door for
one of the company's newer accounts was blocked at a subdivision entrance due to asphalt work.
For many suppliers, that would have been a perfectly good reason why the delivery couldn't be made
at the time promised. But it wasn't good enough for PBS. The two committed associates making the delivery locked up
the truck and carried the door, on foot, more than a mile for an on-time jobsite drop-off.

From a customer E-Mail, dated May 2007:

"Van/ Dan, wanted to share a quick little story that one of our field supers tells everyone
about his experience at Professional Builder’s:

Field manager goes to your shop to pick up some plywood. First he is surprised that he is issued a ticket for the pick up. Apparently other vendors don’t track yard pick ups with paperwork. As if the ticket isn’t enough, he pulls into the shed (his words) to pick up the plywood. As he opens his truck door, one of the guys in the yard closes the doors and says “No, you sit, we got it.” Stunned, he says, “what, sit?” Yard guy says, “yep, you sit we’ve got it.” Field manager says, “I’m not going to just sit here and let you load my truck, I can’t do that.” Yard guys, (two of them now working to load the truck) “yep, honestly we have it, you sit.” As the field manager is telling the story, he gestures how the guys are lifting the plywood and setting it in the back of truck. Field manager continues with his audience. “Can you believe it, they wanted me to sit in my freakin’ truck and like take a nap or something while they’re loading my truck.” The story continues, “I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t sit and let them work, so I jumped out and asked if I could help them load my own truck, but I didn’t wait for an answer I just grabbed a sheet on my own and started loading.” The story ends with the field manager asking his audience if they have ever been to PBS. If the audience says, “no”, the field manager explains in great detail the pick up process, the cleanliness of the shop, how everything is neat and orderly, how no garbage is laying around, how there are not tumble weeds blowing across the yard (not sure how that is relevant, but I have heard it several times now) and how everybody needs to go to PBS for a
pick up b/c they will just not believe it.

In summary, I believe that you have a true fan and advocate here in our company."

Reported in October 2007:

Our Account Manager received a call from a customer looking for 100 pieces of special order “CDX” plywood – which is a material we do not keep in stock. The call came in after lunch and the customer needed in on the first load in the following day’s delivery. The delivery team arranged to have our truck stop by our supplier, pick up the material and have it delivered to the job site within one hour of the call. That is exactly what we mean by “Customer Commitment!”