Mr. Hodgson is the co-founder, executive Chairman and one of our largest stockholders and he was selected to serve on our Board of Directors due to his decades of experience and deep knowledge of our industry and substantial operational and strategic planning expertise. His service as the executive Chairman creates a critical link between management and the Board.
Kenneth E. Shipley co-founded our company in 2005 with Curtis D. Hodgson. Mr. Shipley was our Co-Chief Executive Officer from January 2018 and, since February 2019, has served as our President and sole Chief Executive Officer. He has been a member of our Board of Directors since January 2018, when our company converted to a corporation and prior to that, Mr. Shipley, together with Mr. Hodgson, served as partners of the company’s predecessor, Legacy Housing, Ltd. Mr. Shipley has more than 30 years of experience in the manufactured home industry. Since 1981, he has also owned and operated Bell Mobile Homes in Lubbock, Texas, a manufactured home retailer.
Mr. Shipley is the co-founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and one of our largest stockholders, and he was selected to serve on our Board of Directors due to his decades of experience and knowledge of our industry and substantial sales and distribution experience with dealers and customers in the industry. His service as a director and the President and Chief Executive Officer creates a critical link between management and the Board.
Stephen L. Crawford was elected to our Board of Directors at the annual meeting of stockholders held on November 8, 2019. He has served as the Managing Partner of Sabine Realty Partners, LLC, a real estate company focused on Texas properties, from May 2014 until May 2019. Previously, he served as the Director of Corporate Real Estate for Temple-Inland Inc., a publicly traded corrugated packaging and building products company, from April 2002 until February 2012, at which time International Paper acquired Temple-Inland. From 2012 until his retirement in December 2013, Mr. Crawford served as a Senior Real Estate Manager for International Paper, focusing his efforts on the corporate transition. From March 1994 until March 2002, Mr. Crawford served as the Director of Corporate Real Estate and Senior Vice President for Guaranty Bank. In that role, he had director level responsibilities over 200 branch bank locations in Texas and California, as well as oversight of Guaranty Bank’s corporate headquarters in Dallas, Texas. In addition, Mr. Crawford has experience from 1976-1994 in commercial real estate lending, brokering, acquisitions, development, marketing, and asset management for companies such as Trammell Crow Company and Bonnet Resources Corporation. Mr. Crawford earned a B.B.A. from Texas Tech University.
Mr. Crawford has extensive experience and knowledge of commercial real estate acquisitions, dispositions, development, and asset management, and this expertise is highly beneficial to our company.
Jeffrey K. Stouder is standing for election to our Board of Directors for the first time. He has served as the Vice President, Global Controller at E2open, LLC, a leading provider of cloud-based supply chain software and solutions, since August 2019. Previously, he served as the Chief Financial Officer at Global Resale, LLC, a global leader in aftermarket services and reverse logistics for IT hardware, from March 2018 to August 2019. From July 2015 to March 2018, Mr. Stouder served as the Corporate Controller at NBG Home, the largest provider of affordable home décor products, with manufacturing and distribution facilities across the United States and internationally. From 2000 to 2015, he served at Dell, Inc. in various accounting and finance positions including SEC Reporting Manager, Global Sales Controller, and Finance Director for Dell Services. Mr. Stouder began his career at Arthur Andersen LLP in the Dallas office, where he worked in the audit practice as staff, senior, and audit manager from 1994 to 2000. Mr. Stouder received his B.B.A. and M.S. Accounting degrees from Texas Tech University and is a certified public accountant.
Mr. Stouder brings over 25 years of experience in accounting, finance, audit, corporate governance, mergers, and investor relations. His expertise in these areas will be highly valuable to the Board.
Robert D. Bates is standing for election to our Board of Directors for the first time. He has served as the Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions at Arcosa Inc., a publicly traded infrastructure products company, since August 2018. Previously, he served as the Vice President, Industrial Investment Banking Group at Stephens Inc., a privately owned investment bank, from June 2015 to August 2018. From February 2012 to June 2015, he served as an associate in the energy investment banking group at Seaport Global Securities, LLC, an independent full-service investment bank. Mr. Bates began his career in New York at Willis RE Inc. as a reinsurance brokerage analyst from July 2010 to February 2012. Mr. Bates received his B.S. Management degree with a double major in finance and legal studies in business from Tulane University.
Mr. Bates substantial knowledge in mergers & acquisitions, capital markets transactions, the insurance industry and risk management solutions make him well qualified as a member of the Board.