Pelehach New CEO at Braxton-Bragg

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Michael Pelehach is the new CEO of Braxton-Bragg Corp., following the retirement of company co-founder Doug Slocum.
Pelehach moved into the top position of the stone-industry-products distributor on April 17. He comes to the company with 27 years of experience in the power-transmission industry, including the past eight years with industrial-chain manufacturer Renold Jeffrey Co. in Morristown, Tenn.
Pelehach served as Renold Jeffrey’s president before joining Braxton-Bragg.
Slocum and Ron Weiler founded Braxton-Bragg in 1995; the company grew to almost 60 employees with two distribution locations in Knoxville, Tenn., (also home of corporate headquarters) and Fresno, Calif. Weiler retired several years ago.
Pelehach uses the apropos illustration of a diamond (considering Braxton-Bragg’s distribution of diamond tooling) when envisioning the success of the company.
“Our customers are at the core of our business,” Pelehach says. “They are the center of the diamond. The points of the diamond represent our responsibility to our employees, suppliers, shareholders, and community. All of them are vital to our success as an organization.”
Pelehach is also looking forward to learning about a new industry and being part of a growing business.
“Any time you have a business that is growing, it’s exciting,” he said.
Pelehach lists Braxton-Bragg’s commitment to new technologies in the stone industry, a strong list of suppliers and high-quality employees as some of the assets that drew him to the company.
“I’m impressed with the quality of the people and the products,” he said. “Integrity, enthusiasm, knowledge, and professionalism are the foundations for doing business. Our people understand the stone industry.”
While he believes there are bound to be some changes in the company in the future, Pelehach said he thinks the transition to a new CEO has been a smooth one.