Winsupply Inc. has expanded its national Area Leader team to 13 members, adding resources aimed at coaching and recruiting the entrepreneurs who run its more than 680 independently owned wholesale distribution businesses across plumbing, HVAC, electrical, waterworks, and related trades. The addition comes after a year in which the Winsupply Family of Companies opened 11 new Local Companies and completed four acquisitions, growth the company says is straining the bandwidth of its existing leadership structure.

Terry Dickens, most recently president of Olathe Winwater, and Luke Larkin, most recently president of South Atlanta Winsupply, are joining the Area Leader team, taking on territories responsible for mentoring and advising the locally owned Presidents who operate under the Winsupply model. Dickens will focus on high-growth opportunities alongside Area Leader Jesse Backman, who joined the team in February after leading Greenville Noland. Larkin takes over the Florida territory from Steve Lyon, who retired as an Area Leader in June.

A Business Built on Independent Ownership

Winsupply's structure sets it apart from most HVAC and plumbing distributors: rather than operating a single centralized company, Winsupply Inc. holds a majority equity stake in more than 680 independently owned and operated Local Companies, each run by a local President who has a personal ownership stake in the business. The model, which the company brands as the Spirit of Opportunity, is designed to let operators build equity and run their own wholesaling business with backing from the larger Winsupply organization rather than as a straight corporate employee.

Area Leaders are the connective tissue in that structure. Their core responsibilities include recruiting new Local Company Presidents into the organization, serving as a business advisor and board member for every Local Company in their territory, and helping each President reach the next level of growth — a mentorship and governance function rather than a traditional regional sales management role.

Why the Team Is Growing Now

"Our team's goal is to be more strategic in helping Local Company entrepreneurs grow market share and scale their business," said Rob Ferguson, president of Winsupply's Local Company Group. "These added resources will focus our strategy, provide flexibility, and continue to build the next generation of Local Company leaders." The expansion to 13 Area Leaders follows directly from the pace of the company's growth: 11 new Local Company launches and four acquisitions in a single year is a heavier organizational load than the prior team size was built to support, and Winsupply is framing the appointments as a direct response to that growth rather than a routine backfill.

Two Long-Tenured Operators Move Into Mentor Roles

Dickens began his Winsupply career in 1989 as a driver for KC Winwater and went on to lead Olathe Winwater for 27 years, giving him nearly four decades of institutional knowledge about how the Local Company model works at the operating level. "My purpose is to serve as an advisor, mentor, and role model to help others achieve what they think is impossible," Dickens said. "I am driven to help others realize the Spirit of Opportunity to build their own wholesale business."

Larkin's path through the organization started even earlier: he began sweeping floors at Elizabethtown Winlectric in Kentucky at age 14, before stints at Bowling Green Winnelson and a turnaround assignment at Fayetteville Winnelson. He left South Atlanta Winsupply with sales having grown to $30 million under his leadership. "I want to help others become a true entrepreneur and find the same success that I have been awarded through hard work and the relentless pursuit of achieving my dreams," Larkin said. "I want to live out the Spirit of Opportunity by coaching, helping and building the current and future generations of Presidents and entrepreneurs."

What It Signals for the Distribution Channel

For contractors and manufacturers who rely on Winsupply's Local Companies for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical supply, the expanded Area Leader bench is a signal that the company intends to keep growing its footprint through both new Local Company launches and acquisitions rather than consolidating around its existing base. Winsupply's annual sales reached $8.4 billion for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026, and the company employs more than 9,500 people nationwide across its family of companies — scale that puts real weight behind the pace of expansion the new Area Leaders are being brought in to support.

Promoting from within, rather than hiring Area Leaders externally, also reinforces a pattern that runs through Winsupply's entire ownership model: both Dickens and Larkin worked their way up through operating roles at individual Local Companies before stepping into a coaching and governance position over other Presidents, giving them direct, ground-level credibility with the entrepreneurs they will now be advising.

What Happens Next

Winsupply has not indicated whether further Area Leader additions are planned beyond the current expansion to 13, though the pace of new Local Company launches and acquisitions over the past year suggests the team's size will remain under review as the broader organization continues to grow. For the entrepreneurs running or considering a Winsupply Local Company, the immediate impact is a deeper bench of dedicated advisors — including two operators with a combined half-century of hands-on experience inside the Winsupply system — available to support recruiting, coaching, and market-share growth across the company's wholesale distribution network.