November 20th, 2009
McCoy’s executive wins regional IT award

SUBMITTED REPORT

The Austin Association of Information Technology Professionals last month recognized Dennis Strong, McCoy’s Building Supply senior vice president and chief information officer, as their 2009 Information Technology Executive of the Year at the InnoTech 6th Annual Austin CIO Summit last month.

AITP selects senior information technology executives in the Austin-area to recognize with the annual award based on their creativity, innovation, leadership and the impact their work has made on their organization.

“This award is an important aspect of giving back to the technology community in Austin. The winners showcase four examples of incredible work being accomplished in Austin,” said Scott Foster, president of the association’s Austin chapter.

Founded in 1927, the San Marcos-based McCoy’s has evolved from a small, one-store operation in Galveston, Texas into an expansive regional building supply retailer with stores located throughout five states and annual sales in excess of $600 million. With their headquarters operations move to a new location in July, Strong and his team had to design, build, and move the company’s data center, which houses all of McCoy’s point of sale, Web site, financial and communications data. The transition was successfully made without any service interruption to McCoy’s 83 store locations.

“It’s gratifying to be recognized by AITP,” Strong said. “This is really a testament to what McCoy’s is able to accomplish as a company. We have a great corporate culture, and my team works hard to deliver technology solutions both internally and to our ‘born to build’ customers.”

McCoy’s rolled out a variety of new services on their Web site, mccoys.com, during 2009. Customers can view product availability at their local store and create Materials Lists for their building projects—customized quotes with 24/7 access to personalized pricing. For even faster service, customers can e-mail their quotes to their local store team, where it waits in McCoy’s point of sale system, ready to complete their transaction at the time of purchase.

Strong was awarded the IT Executive of the Year for the private sector. Other award recipients included: Eric Hungate, CIO for the Texas Association of School Boards, for his work in the public and nonprofit sector; Joshua Baer, founder and CEO of OtherInBox, for his work as an Information Technologist; and William Hurley of whurleyvision, inc. for his community leadership.

— FROM McCOY’S BUILDING SUPPLY/SARAH LOHN