West Point-based Graham Roofing has recently undergone a change in leadership, promoting Christee Holbrook to president and CEO of the company.
Jimmy Graham, Bobby Hooks and Clyde Hollis founded the company 50 years ago as a way for the trio to fund their education at Mississippi State University. This is the first time since its opening that one of the founders hasn’t led the company.
Hooks, one of the founding members, officially retired in March, which is when he sold the business to Holbrook.
Holbrook originally joined the Graham Roofing team in 1997 as a temporary accountant and was later hired to serve full-time as the chief operations officer.
Additionally, Hooks chose two other members to serve as managing partners — Suzanne Richardson will be vice president and chief financial officer, and Johnathan Poland will serve as vice president and Tupelo branch manager.
“I chose Christee Holbrook, Suzanne Richardson, and Johnathan Poland to lead Graham Roofing into the future because I knew GRI would have a leadership team with vision, integrity and professionalism,” Hooks said in a company press release. “There was no doubt they would use our company history as their foundation, along with their fresh vision for direction and their faith to take GRI into its next generation of success.”
The corporate office will remain at 680 Tibbee Road in West Point, with Tupelo’s location as a satellite branch.
Moving to Columbus, the old Pizza Hut property at 2215 Highway 45 N. has sold.
Royce Hudspeth with Rhett Real Estate said the owner of the property will lease the building, but because the lease terms and conditions were still being hammered out, neither party wished to be identified.
According to public records obtained from the Lowndes County tax assessor’s office, the Realty Income Corporation bought the property earlier this year and later conveyed it to the Munford-Rhett Family Trust.
Both the Pizza Hut on Highway 45 and one on Alabama Street closed in 2016.
Lastly, Books and Boards, which shares a space with Three Sisters Pie on Main Street in Columbus, is closing.
The store has been a hangout spot, safe haven and second home for many in Columbus since its opening in December 2016, said owner Ashley Gressett. The independent bookstore also offers board game rental.
Three Sisters Pie will remain in the space, and will continue to host some of Books and Boards’ most popular events, including poetry open mic nights, bingo nights and trivia nights.
“We are so incredibly proud of the community that Books and Boards has cultivated,” Gressett said. “I’m sad to see it go, but I’m excited to know that the community we built will still have a place at Three Sisters Pie.”
Books and Boards will host a farewell party on April 28. Gressett said the event will be open to the public and include pizza, games and “lots of laughter to go around.”
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