FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONOVER, N.C. — Phil Lail, president, Pan American Screw Fastener Group, announced that he plans to retire at the end of the year after serving the company for 43 years.
In a letter to customers, colleagues and other friends, Lail the decsion to retire on Dec. 31, 2025, was hard to make, but the time seemed appropriate after more than four decades with the company, and serving as president for 10 years.
“I remember when I took this job as a territory sales manager, I thought I would try it for a couple years to see how I liked it and fortunately for me (unfortunately for my wife & family, because I traveled a lot), I fell in love with it,” he wrote. “Back then furniture manufacturing was “king” in the southeastern United States, and that is who most of my original customers were – big brands like Bassett, Thomasville, Singer, American of Martinsville, Stanley, Vaughan Bassett, Ethan Allen and more. I covered North Carolina north of I-40, all of Virginia, West Virginia, and eastern Tennessee.”
His next career step occured when the company purchased Deerwood Fasteners. “I went to work with them in their Huntersville, North Carolina, location to learn the distribution side of our business and then I began working with distributors like Wurth Baer, Wurth Wood, Louis & Company, Arthur Distributor Co., Advanced Hardware, HDL, etc.”
He added that later, while serving as V.P of International Sales, he oversaw the Deerwood SA de CV warehouse in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico, until the company closed it. “I worked with the sales team at our sister company, Robertson in Canada as V.P. of Sales and traveled all over Canada. I helped orchestrate the acquisition of several hidden deck fastener patents that were owned by our partner in Canada that eventually added millions of dollars in new revenues to Sure Drive USA / Pan Am.”
In 2015, Lail assisted in the 2015 acquisition of Big Timber (Western Builders Supply) in Billings, Montana. In October 2020, the company acquired Tenn-Tex Plastics in the Kernersville, North Carolina, area, and he has been responsible for overseeing sales there since joining the group.
“I have been able to travel to many parts of the world and have enjoyed those opportunities throughout the years,” he explained. “There have been several remarkable mentors that I have looked up to during my time here, and they often joked, ‘we’ll give Phil enough rope to do it his way … but not enough to hang himself if he’s wrong.’ That freedom to work as if the company were my own business, and the relationships I formed with customers, is what I liked most about my time here, along with our wonderful team of employees. I have tried to treat them as family when possible, and we have built a special bond.”
Lail said that he will miss his colleagues and the few close friends who said he was proud “to also call customers.”
His duties will be split between Derek Campbell, VP of Sales Retail, and Don Bratcher, VP of Sales OEM. “My longtime friend and colleague Tim White will take over the management duties here at our Conover ranch,” he said. “I promise you will be in good hands with all three of these Marmon Fastener Company veterans.”
Reflecting on his future in retirement he looks forward to spending more time with family. “Now it’s my time to spend more time at home, with my wife, children and grandsons – maybe some recreational travel instead of the business travel grind, maybe do a little more fishing down on the NC coastline at our vacation home in Oak Island. But it is the freedom that retirement will offer that will also allow me and my family to choose what activities will make the best memories.
“Thank you all for everything you have done to help make Pan American Screw and myself successful over the years. I wish you all the very best,” he concluded.
Source: Woodworking Network Read original HERE
