Mace T. Coleman
Chairman and President of Gold Bond Building Division
Mace Coleman started his career with National Gypsum's Gold Bond Building Division as a sales trainee in 1952. He was named a sales representative the next year. He became assistant district sales manager in 1960 and district sales manager the next year.
Coleman was named division manager in 1965 and, in 1972, became director of National Accounts. He became vice president of Merchandising Operations in 1974 and was elected president of the Gold Bond Building Division in 1978. He served in that position for 10 years and became chairman of the division in 1989. He retired in 1990.
In 1948, Coleman set off to seek a degree from Virginia Tech University. He began a study of veterinary medicine. A co-op program through Auburn University fell through. He then made the decision to choose the construction industry as a career.
He graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in business and started working for Gold Bond in Washington, DC, as a sales trainee. He held sales positions in Chicago, Virginia, San Francisco, and Buffalo. He moved to Charlotte with the Gold Bond Division in 1978.
"A great deal of the company's success, as well as my own, can be attributed to a commitment to free enterprise and a respect for our employees and their interests."
"Corporate raiders initiated a takeover attempt of our company (1986). In order to preserve the integrity and character of our organization, it was decided the best way to handle the situation was to buy the company in a leveraged buyout. Aancor, our parent corporation, is now owned by senior members of corporate and division management and selected private investors.
All the principals involved realized everyone was going to have to contribute individually to the effort."
Growing up in Lynchburg, VA, Coleman remembers hunting and fishing with his father. "It was early in my childhood that I gained a love and respect for the outdoors. Growing up, I can remember my favorite pastime was baseball. I even played at Virginia Tech when I went away to college. It was there I learned the importance of being a team player, because it takes a team to win."
Mace T. Coleman Joined National Gypsum as a sales representative in 1952. He was named assistant to president in 1974 and president in 1978.
"I've always been an admirer and a believer in self-reliance. We're a self-reliant company, and I see myself as a self-reliant individual."