Jack Johnston to retire, but remain on board of directors.​

Winsupply Inc. announced Roland Gordon has been named chief executive officer of the company, effective Jan. 31. Gordon retains his title as president of Winsupply. Jack Johnston is stepping down from the executive leadership role after leading the company through successive years of record growth. Johnston remains a member of the Winsupply Board of Directors.

Johnston, who joined Winsupply in 1977 when it was an $84 million company, said, “I’ve been honored to be part of Winsupply for 40 years and to serve as CEO for the past year and a half. I thank our more than 5,000 employees at the local companies and the centralized support teams for delivering exceptional service to our loyal customers and growing our company.

“I’ve been planning this succession for quite some time, and I have great confidence in Roland, his leadership and in the executive team we’ve built. Roland is the right person to lead Winsupply and execute our multi-pronged strategy for continued growth. I couldn’t be happier with the state of Winsupply as I step into retirement.”

Gordon, who was named president in 2016, has served in leadership roles at Winsupply for 18 years. “I am stepping into the role of chief executive at a time when Winsupply has positive growth momentum under Jack’s leadership,” Gordon said. “I’m committed to carrying forward our company’s shared ownership philosophy, principles for success and strategic objectives that will help enable us to continue to grow in 2017 and beyond.

“Winsupply will conclude the current fiscal year on Jan. 31 and we anticipate another record year. The entire executive team and I are upbeat about the future because of our hard-working employees, their loyalty and get-it-done attitude. The employees are dedicated to achieving our vision: To create loyal, profitable customers by offering them superior solutions for their everyday needs and unique challenges.

“I want to thank Jack and his predecessor, Rick Schwartz, for the exemplary models they set as chief executive officer.”

Winsupply ended fiscal 2016 (Jan. 31, 2016) with $2.7 billion in revenue.

Johnston joined Winsupply as an accountant with Winsupply Group Services (WGS), the organization providing complete shared business services for Winsupply local companies. He became WGS treasurer in 1980, and was named president in 1998. In 2005, Johnston became chief financial officer of Winsupply Inc. He was promoted to president in July 2011 and chief executive officer in 2015.

Gordon joined Winsupply in 1999 as a manager with Winsupply Group Services (WGS) in Reno, Nevada. The Reno office provided complete business services for Winsupply local companies in its geographic area. From Reno, Gordon took a position as the risk manager with WGS in Dayton. Following Winsupply’s acquisition of Noland Company in 2005, Gordon was appointed its chief financial officer and liaison to the subsidiary. He was named CFO of Winsupply in August 2011 and promoted to president of Winsupply in January 2016.