Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC (“Blue Wolf”) announced today that portfolio company Suwannee Lumber Company LLC (“Suwannee”) has named James H. Langdale Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Frank “Bump” Faircloth, who will become Chairman of Suwannee’s Board of Directors. Bump has served as Chief Executive Officer of Suwannee since 1992 and oversaw the growth of Suwannee from $5 million of revenue in 1992 to over $100 million in revenue in 2014. Suwannee, headquartered in Cross City, Florida, is a leading independent manufacturer of softwood lumber in the Southeastern United States and a leading manufacturer of mulch and soil products, including its popular Jungle GrowthTM line of products.

Charles Miller, Partner at Blue Wolf and out-going Chairman of Suwannee, said, “We are delighted to welcome Jim to Suwannee. He is a well-respected, experienced sawmill operator who can further build our customer base and grow the Suwannee product line. We would also like to thank Bump for his many years of service as Chief Executive Officer and look forward to his leadership as Chairman.”

Mr. Langdale comes to Suwannee with over 23 years of experience in the forest products industry. Most recently, he headed a consulting business, Pannon Enterprises, LLC, specializing in forest products consulting, which he launched in 2011. While at Pannon, he acquired a shuttered, bankrupt sawmill in southeast Oklahoma which he re-commissioned as Langdale Lumber Enterprises, LLC and sold in November 2014. Prior to that, he spent 20 years with The Langdale Company in Valdosta, GA, where his experience ranged from entry level to Vice President and included time as a director. He managed the day to day operations of the solid wood products group, which consisted of 600 employees in six different companies, with annual sales of over $100 million.

Mr. Langdale commented, “I have had the privilege to serve as a director of Suwannee for the last two years and I have learned first-hand that Suwannee has had great leadership, and it truly values its employees and long term customer and logging relationships. It will be a privilege to work with the dedicated Suwannee employees as well as the Blue Wolf team.”

Mr. Faircloth said, “After over twenty years of fulfilling a vision of growth at Suwannee, it’s time to move on to my role as Chairman where I will continue to provide strategic direction to the company. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to lead our people on a long journey of growth and prosperity. The teamwork at Suwannee is unsurpassed, and it has been my honor to see a small town business grow to become a leader in the sawmill and ground cover industries.”