Here's an item I had intended for for my column today, but It was overlooked amid the many tips that rolled in last week.
UBC - United Building Center - along the West U.S. 14 frontage road in Rochester put up a new sign the other day - ProBuild.
I checked and I got the official word from corporate that was just a sign change to reflect the company's sale in 2006.
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Here's some details from the company press release. I believe the parents company here is based in the United Kingdom. Can't find that right now, though :
1855 United Building Centers began as a brainchild of William, Matthew and John Laird, brothers who saw an opportunity to begin a building trade from a single raft of building materials that landed - with a little bit of luck - on the shores of the Mississippi River in Winona, Minnesota.
Until the early spring of 2006, when UBC and its sister divisions were acquired by ProBuild Holdings, UBC was still privately owned by descendants of its original founders.
…UBC joins sister companies, Lumbermen's, Spenard Building Supply (SBS), Dixieline, F.E. Wheaton, Home Lumber, Hope Lumber, Strober Building Supply, The Contractor Yard and US Components to serve customers throughout the nation under their new name - ProBuild. UBC’s market area will be known internally as ProBuild North Region.
…ProBuild North is a provider of building materials and services consisting of over 4,200 employees, 154 retail centers, eight distribution centers, eleven truss plants, twenty-five construction companies, nine millwork companies, six rental operations, and sixteen truss/panel operations. ProBuild North Region’s facilities serve the states of Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
