Board of Directors

Kevin Hancock is the CEO of our family business as well as an award-winning author and nationally recognized public speaker. For the last decade, Kevin’s written books, spoken nationally, and created content that fuels his website, The Business of Shared Leadership, where he invites any visitor to follow his blog for leadership inspiration. The mission of his personal website is to heighten RESPECT FOR ALL VOICES. If everyone on Earth felt trusted, respected, valued, and heard, what might change? Kevin believes that everything might change–and, most importantly, that the workplace can and must become a catalyst for this transformation.

Kevin is an award-winning author, speaker, and Hancock Lumber’s CEO. His first published book, Not For Sale: Finding Center in the Land of Crazy Horse won three national book awards. In 2020, Post Hill Press published his second book, The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey into the Business of Shared Leadership. Kevin’s third published book released in 2021 titled, 48 Whispers from Pine Ridge and the Northern Plains, and is a hybrid book of sorts—part photography and part thoughts for reflection, heightened self-awareness, and human advancement.

Kevin has worked at the company since 1991 and is part of the sixth generation of his family to help lead the organization.Throughout his career, Kevin has received the Ed Muskie ‘Access to Justice’ Award, the Habitat for Humanity ‘Spirit of Humanity’ Award, the Boy Scouts of America ‘Distinguished Citizen’ Award, and Timber Processing Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ Award. He is also a past chairman of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association.

Kevin is a frequent visitor to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and an advocate of strengthening the voices of all individuals—within a company or a community —through listening, empowering, and shared leadership.

Kevin is a graduate of Lake Region High School and Bowdoin College.  He lives in Maine with his wife, Alison.  Together they have two adult children, Abby and Sydney.

To learn more, visit Kevin’s website or reach out directly by email at: khancock@hancocklumber.com.

“An organization’s true value is not defined by revenue growth or profitability. Those are important metrics for our business, but they are outcomes of a higher purpose. The real mission is to enhance the lives of the people who work here.”

-Kevin Hancock

Jim is the Vice Chairman of Hancock Lumber Company’s board of directors, which he has served on since 2014. Over the course of his career he has successfully built teams and held senior executive positions in a number of Fortune 500 organizations in both the US and Europe including: LEGO Corporation, Hasbro Corporation, General Mills and Saucony, the athletic footwear company. He was a founding member of the original team that introduced LEGO brand products into the United States. At General Mills, he was responsible for marketing/new ventures and consumer product introductions into 10 European countries.

Jim has worked with venture capital organizations to acquire, manage and grow a wide variety of businesses. Fiduciary board positions in addition to Hancock Lumber have included, Hyde Athletic (Saucony Shoe), Zone Labs the maker of nutritional products and supplements, Molecular Insight with targeted cancer therapy drugs, and Member Benefits, a national company that provides fund raising tools for entities such as National Public Radio (NPR), and the Sierra Club.  Jim has also held not for profit board positions at The Forbeck Cancer Research Foundation as Board member and Trustee Emeritus, the Osher Rare Map Library / Smith Center for Cartographic Research at the University of Southern Maine, and the Cumberland Club in Portland, Maine. Additionally, he co-founded and facilitates the Maine Board Forum, a private peer to peer CEO problem solving group represented by CEO’s whose Maine businesses collectively represent approximately $200 million in revenue and 500 employees.

Something you might not know about Jim? In the 1980’s, he obtained the musical rights for Cabbage Patch Kids.  He formed a music company and produced a record that sold enough copies to earn a Gold Album as Executive Producer.  Additionally, Jim cycled for many years mostly to raise money for cancer research.  In 2003, he was selected to be on a team of twenty led by Lance Armstrong to cycle across the country and raise awareness for clinical trails.  The team rode relay from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in eight days and averaged 21 miles per hour. Currently, and for the past twenty years, Jim has served as a board member of the William Guy Forbeck Cancer Research Foundation where he is currently Trustee Emeritus. Jim is an active fundraiser for this charity and has raised over $500K to support pediatric cancer research.

He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and served with distinction in Vietnam.

“There is a significant level of trust, engagement, and participation throughout the entire Hancock organization.  I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with world-class companies and, certainly, Hancock lumber is just that.  So, for me, being a member of the Hancock Lumber Board is an energizing opportunity to utilize the various business building skills and experiences obtained over the years in a dynamic, creative, team-oriented environment.”

-Jim Buchanan

Ed joined Hancock Lumber’s board in March of 2019 after serving 24 years as Wyman’s CEO, a family-owned business based in Milbridge, Maine.  Ed graduated from NYU business school in 1975 and carried out a 42-year work career, gaining perspective on growth, risk, people dynamics, and juggling priorities.  Following his retirement, Ed was seeking to give back and his networking led him to connect with Kevin Hancock.  As it turns out, his background at Wyman’s in a family owned, middle-sized business, based on a natural resource with retail, commodity, and export sales channels, all fit well with Hancock Lumber’s board service work.

Throughout his career, Ed’s journey led him through series of marketing, sales, and general management positions, with time spent selling plastics at Mobil, assistant product manager at H.P. Hood, and ultimately to his career at Wyman’s in 1993 as ‘a blueberry man in eastern Maine’, completely turning the tables from his original plan to pursue a marketing career in New York City.

Wyman’s experienced terrific growth during his tenure—from being a small, 100% Maine wild blueberries company to a much larger company with large land and factory operations in Eastern Canada, to being one of the largest importers of frozen other fruits from Chile and Mexico, including a contract facility in McAllen, TX.  Ed acted as Wyman’s chief salesmen with key export customers in Asia and Europe where the customers valued top-to-top relationships.  While his career carried him across several organizations, his work legacy is found through his time at Wyman’s.

Ed has served on several trade-oriented boards including President of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America with the Foodservice Advisory Board of the Florida Department of Citrus. Additionally, Ed served as Chairman of the American Frozen Food Institute (frozen food trade association)—and, way back when his boys were young, he affected change locally as a board member and President of the Topsfield Athletic Association.

While spending his junior year abroad in Rome, Ed met a young lady– and, he and Jane have been married over 40 years now.  The couple has lived in the Boxford-Topsfield area outside of Boston throughout his career (with a few years in Florida).  When the duo turned 60, they hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu nurturing their mutual love of traveling and hiking. Ed is a sports fan, following the Celtics and Liverpool FC especially.  Their three sons are all married, and they enjoy being grandparents to five little ones.

The newest member of Hancock Lumber’s board, Mark Gardner graduated with a BSC in Industrial Technology, along with a State of Maine Teaching Certificate from the University of Southern Maine in 1978. He also completed post-graduation studies in Statistical Process Control, Lean Six Sigma and Management Effectiveness training from various schools and programs from 1979 through to 1990. From 1978 to 1981, he taught various Science, Technology and Engineering classes at Brunswick Middle School and Auburn High School. Mark has expertise in statistical process control, management effectiveness design and implementation, change management, and business optimizations and effectiveness.

Mark worked for Scott Paper/SD Warren/Sappi starting in 1981 and his experience includes serving as the Vice President of Manufacturing and Vice President of Supply Chain, prior to which he worked in a variety of production management roles at Sappi, including Production Manager at the Westbrook Mill, Paper Mill Manager at the Somerset Mill, Managing Director at the Muskegon, Michigan Mill and Director of Engineering and Manufacturing Technology at the head office in Boston.

Mark was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Sappi North America in 2007, responsible for leading all Sappi operations in North America and was also appointed to the board.  In 2009, Mark received the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) and Paper Industry Management Association (PIMA) Executive of the Year Award. The award is the highest recognition for leadership and management given by PIMA.  Mark recently completed his term as Chairman of the board of directors of the American Forest & Paper Association, after serving twelve years on the board. In September 2012, he was appointed by the Governor of Maine to the Board of Trustees for the University of Maine System.

In October 2019, Mark retired from Sappi after 38 years of service. Mark and his wife, Judi, reside in Kittery, Maine and look forward to spending time enjoying Maine and traveling around the country to visit family and friends.  Mark is an avid sportsman and also enjoys boating, motorcycling, fishing, hunting, and spending time in the outdoors.

An international speaker, trainer, and management consultant, Ruth has worked exclusively in the building supply industry for the last 20 years.  Prior to entering that industry, she worked for the Japanese Government and US multi-national corporations assisting them with international business development.  She has lived and worked in Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico and Spain and she speaks five languages.  With extensive experience in strategic planning, business development, and process improvement, Ruth assists companies with strategic growth, performance and process improvement, succession planning, and mergers & acquisitions.  A recognized LBM industry expert, she is a popular industry event speaker and writes for several industry publications, including her article, The Power of OTIF (on-time and in-full), as a way to measure an organization’s performance on getting customers exactly what they want when promised.

Ruth earned her undergraduate degrees in History and Foreign Languages from Lake Erie College, and also graduated from the University of Tennessee with a MBA. Ruth’s served on Hancock Lumber’s board since 2011.

“Serving on Hancock’s board excites me for two main reasons. First, the people.  It’s an extraordinary leadership team and everyone brings so much to the organization.  Second, being part of a process that’s redefining work for our industry and others.  We’re doing things people think can’t be done–I’m honored and humbled to be a part of it.”

-Ruth Kellick-Grubbs

Kevin Jones has served on Hancock Lumber’s board of directors since 2014. Following his graduation from the University of New Hampshire, Kevin started Jamie Plumbing & Heating Supply Company (named after his one-week old daughter!). A wholesale distributer of plumbing, heating, and HVAC equipment, with two locations in Exeter and South Hampton, NH and 30 employees, the company serviced seacoast New Hampshire’s plumbing, heating, HVAC, and building contractors.

Having been the founder and owner of a construction products distribution business similar to Hancock Lumber and then moving into the world of real estate development, Kevin routinely dealt with the same issues that Hancock Lumber faces.  He brings this direct experience to the Hancock board, offering insight into his days of recruiting good people to run the operation, keeping customers satisfied, and everything in between necessary to run a successful business.   After selling the plumbing supply company to the Granite Group, Kevin began developing real estate in the north shore of Massachusetts and southern, NH, which provides him with experience in land management, the permitting process, construction, renovation, and condominium development.

Kevin served on the board of trustees at Bridgton Academy from 2007 – 2019, where he chaired the Facilities Committee for ten years and served as Board President from 2015 – 2019.  For the past twenty years, he’s been a part time lobsterman, fishing coastal New Hampshire all summer and fall aboard the Miss Margaret (named after his second daughter!), a 30’ Grady White.

“It’s a humbling experience to be a director of an organization that has been in business for over 170 years. I’m always impressed by the Hancock Lumber Team and what they are able to accomplish. Serving on the board and being a part of Hancock’s fast paced, opportunistic, progressive company…that excites me.”

-Kevin Jones