GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Universal Forest Products, Inc. announced that its CEO, Matthew J. Missad, has been included in Fortune magazine's Businessperson of the Year list, an annual ranking of just 50 corporate leaders published today.

"Concrete results. They're what drive Fortune's annual ranking of corporate chieftains," states the article. "Of course, intangibles and inspiration matter. But what counts most for companies is the ability to generate cold, hard cash. What follows is an assemblage of superstars who navigated the inevitable turmoil this year and led their companies to stellar and, yes, concrete results."

He is in the company of leaders such as Nike's Mark Parker (who took the number-one spot), Apple's Tim Cook, Larry Page of Alphabet (Google's holding company) and Priceline's Darren Huston. At number 45 on the list, Missad's long history with the company and his success as CEO are noted in the Fortune article (which can be found here).

"You wouldn't want a wood-products company to be, er, lumbering--but deep roots help," it states. "The latter might explain why CEO Missad, who started working at the company as part of a maintenance crew in high school, is leading the company to unprecedented heights. The company just reported the best third-quarter results in its history and its profits over the past 12 months, according to S&P CapitalIQ, are three times what they were just three years ago."

Missad called it "a surprise and an honor," adding, "I am just a small part of an organization that has many diverse elements, including a great management team, a strong board, and the best employees in the business. While I'm tremendously humbled by the recognition, the credit for our success goes to each of them. I am grateful to everyone at the companies of Universal for their hard work and ingenuity, which drive our success."

"Matt has been instrumental to our success for 30 years," said Chairman William G. Currie. "This recognition is well-earned and is a great testimony to his strong leadership and to the success of the corporation. Universal is a great American company with a great story and Matt exemplifies what we're all about - hard work, integrity, ingenuity and a fierce determination to be a leader in all that we do."

Fortune said it weighed 10 metrics to come up with the list, with 12-month and 36-month increases in profits and revenues at the core of the analysis to provide a longer-term picture of each company's success. The magazine also factored in stock performance, total shareholder returns and ratio of debt to capital, as well as nonfinancial elements like business influence, leadership style and strategic initiatives.