Cornerstone Building Brands Welcomes Gunner Smith as New CEO

by David Flaherty | 29 July 2025 12:42 pm

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Cornerstone Building Brands, a manufacturer of exterior building products in North America, has named Gunner Smith as its new chief executive officer (CEO), effective August 11.

Gunner was selected after the company’s Board of Directors conducted a comprehensive search to identify its next CEO. According to a company press release, “his strong commercial background and experience leading high-performing businesses in the building products industry, along with his relentless focus on delivering value to customers, positioned him as the best choice for the role.”

Most recently, Smith served as president of roofing[2] at Owens Corning, a position he has held since 2018. In this role, he was responsible for the roofing business in the United States and Canada, focused primarily on roofing shingles and components that go to market through distributors, home centers, and lumberyards. Prior to assuming this role, he served as vice president of sales, distribution, and home centers and in other positions leading sales, marketing, and pricing for the organization since joining Owens Corning in 2008.

“We are excited to have Gunner Smith joining Cornerstone Building Brands as our next CEO,” said John Krenicki, chairman of the board of directors and interim president/CEO, Cornerstone Building Brands. “He has tremendous depth of experience and expertise in the building products industry and an unwavering focus on customers. With a proven track record, Gunner has driven profitable growth and market share gains by achieving revenue growth and delivering value creation as a trusted partner to his customers, including many of our existing channel customers.”

Before joining Owens Corning, Gunner was a national sales manager at PlyGem[3], which is one of the two companies that formed Cornerstone Building Brands. Earlier in his career, he served in sales management roles for eight years at Elk Corporation.

He has been a board member of Howmet Aerospace since 2023, serving on the audit and finance committees.

Gunner received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mississippi State University and additional credentials in Executive Selling from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/news/cornerstone-building-brands-new-ceo/

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