Mike Callahan is an accomplished and experienced business leader with over forty years of experience in the finance, operations and strategic leadership fields. Mr. Callahan began his career with GMS in 1993 as Vice President of Finance (rising to the CFO position in 1995). In 1993, GMS was a privately held company established in 1971 with a corporate staff of nine people, sales revenue of $236 million and 45 distribution centers. From this point, Mr. Callahan recruited and directed the expansion of the GMS corporate team including personnel in accounting, IT, risk management and human resources. Mr. Callahan became President of GMS in 2013 and took over as CEO in 2015. Under his leadership, GMS has grown to become the largest national distributor of gypsum wallboard, acoustical ceilings, metal framing products and other specialty interior products used in residential and commercial construction. The company now produces revenue in excess of $3.0 billion annually with over 250 distribution centers in 43 states and Canada and oversees 6000 employees. After selling a controlling interest to private equity firm AEA Investors in April 2014, GMS went public on the NYSE in June of 2016 and is traded under the ticker symbol GMS.
Mr. Callahan’s prior business experience was in the banking field, having worked for the C&S National Bank and its successor Nations Bank. Mr. Callahan served from 1974 to 1993 in various commercial lending and management positions, including Sr. Vice President of the Enterprise Lending Group, Commercial Finance Division and Group Manager in the Asset Based Lending Division.
Mr. Callahan has served on the Policy Advisory Board of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, the Billion Dollar Roundtable for the National Association of Wholesalers and has participated in a number of industry events as a speaker or panel member.
Mr. Callahan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Georgia State University. He has been married for 44 years to his high school sweetheart, Jan, and has three grown children and eight grandchildren.
