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Celebrating its 20th year honoring trailblazing retailers in the channel, the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) has named its 2026 Top Guns Awards honorees, including Jason Blair, CEO of TAL Building Centers, based in the Pacific Northwest.
“Top Guns honorees are pillars of innovation and forward-thinking, and have helped grow their businesses through strategic leadership with consideration for their communities, their teams and the industry,” says Scott Wright, NHPA president and publisher. “They’ve grown their businesses, challenged the status quo and led their teams through some of the industry’s toughest moments—and they’re not done yet. This year’s Top Guns are prime examples of what bold leadership looks like in independent home improvement retail today.”
Jason says it was a surprise and an amazing honor to be named a Top Guns Awards honoree.
“Watching friends and colleagues receive this award has given me an appreciation for the dedication and impact it recognizes,” Jason says.
For Jason, the honor is a thank you to all the people who helped him get where he is today.
“From my family making sacrifices to my friends who have supported me personally to the great mentors I’ve had along the way, there were some folks who took some pretty big risks in my career, and I really appreciate that,” Jason says. “They saw something in me, and this award is a reflection of that.” For TAL Building Centers, Jason says the honor is a reflection of the ownership that believed in the operation’s aggressive growth and pushed to grow a 120-year-old company into what it is today.
“It’s about the team—the employees stocking shelves, building loads, driving trucks, working in the field and those supporting the business every day, along with our executive team,” he says. “We talk at TAL about how doing your job means achieving results because every single role matters. This award is ultimately not a reflection on me, it’s a reflection on all of the 400-plus people who work at TAL and make TAL successful every day.”
The Road to Now
Jason’s journey in the independent home improvement channel began after he finished high school in Tucson, Arizona, and has taken several different paths. A friend was working at a local lumberyard, Payless Cashways, and invited him to apply for a job at the same location. Jason started part-time stocking shelves in paint, plumbing and electrical in the 50,000-square-foot store. After earning a civil engineering degree from the University of Arizona, Jason continued working at Payless Cashways, eventually landing in a role managing 10 employees and joining the company’s management development program. At age 24, Jason became one of the youngest store managers at Payless Cashways. From there, Jason moved to Foxworth-Galbraith, working as a trainee in the Phoenix market and then running several store locations in Colorado and opening a truss plant in Montrose. During the recession of 2008, Jason moved to Texas to work as a regional manager for Higginbotham Brothers, running between 15 and 18 locations and eventually moving into the director of operations role. After leaving Higginbotham Brothers, Jason joined the wholesale side of the industry, spending six years with True Value managing their strategic accounts division, and then landed in the Pacific Northwest working for Wilco Farm Stores.
“During that path, my ultimate career goal was to become a CEO by the time I was 50,” Jason says. “The opportunity with TAL came up, and after a month-long dance, we finally got to the point where I felt like it was the right decision for me to move to TAL to become their next CEO. I followed in the footsteps of a great CEO before me, so it was a smooth transition into an actively growing company.”
For the last four years, Jason has been leading TAL Building Centers, a family-owned business that was founded in 1906 and now has 28 locations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. Jason describes the organization as a collection of stores, not a chain of stores, that encompasses 16 different brands. He also serves as the treasurer for the board of directors at Do it Best and True Value.
“My role at TAL is very focused on setting the strategic direction of the company, developing our leadership team and ensuring that we execute consistently across the organization,” he says. “We spend a lot of time working with the executive team on growth initiatives, strengthening our culture and building those unique brands under our umbrella. Ultimately, my job is to make sure we’re building a business that serves our customers while creating long-term opportunities for our people.”
Back to Basics
In his time at TAL, Jason says it’s been a focus on the basics that has led to continued success as a company. If the stores look good, the shelves are stocked and every employee is taking care of the customer, those basics will lead to success.
“I’ve tried lots of different things in my career and it comes back to if you just focus on the basics, you’re going to win,” he says.
When he thinks about his own growth as a leader throughout the years, he reflects on the great people who have pushed him in very different ways. He has worked for different types of leaders and every one of those leaders along the way saw something in him, pushing him and motivating him to the next level.
“I’ve also been very fortunate to work with great teammates. So whether they were peers or people working for me, they also supported my career growth and helped me as a person become the leader I want to be,” Jason says. “I am an aggregate of all those people along the way. I can’t overemphasize how important all those people were who believed in my future career.”
When it comes to building up future leaders in the company, Jason is very intentional.
“I’m a big fan of culture, but I’m an even bigger fan of a culture of accountability,” he says. “The leaders who I have in place running operations have a very strong emphasis on coaching their employees and those emerging leaders and setting very clear expectations and holding them accountable.”
Employees have the responsibility and freedom to make leadership decisions and move those decisions as close to the customer as possible.
“We’ve grown so fast at TAL and have been moving people around a lot, but through it all, have been intentional about making sure everyone understands expectations and feels equipped to lead,” he says.
Along with empowering employees to embrace leadership, they feel a sense of purpose that fits within the company’s mission statement of helping build better communities. Employees are given time off to volunteer and contribute in meaningful ways.
“We work in a very noble industry, supplying people with shelter and working with them through problems in their homes,” Jason says. “We’re also there during exciting times, such as building a new deck or going through a bathroom remodel. We want our employees to understand the importance of what we’re doing and for that importance to show through their daily interactions with customers.”
Investing in Tomorrow’s Leaders Today
When looking at the future of the independent home improvement channel, Jason says the outlook is strong. He believes there is a spot the independent retailer fits in that’s different and unique than the big boxes, including the independent’s ability to adapt to local markets quickly and bring in local products that will make a difference in the communities. While a focus on the basics and the independent’s value proposition of service is crucial, Jason says independents can’t be blind to the need to invest in technology to continue to develop their people and stay competitive.
“Independents can deliver a level of service that I think the national chains struggle to replicate. Independents are able to engage and adapt differently and employ reliable people who are there to help that customer every time,” Jason says. “Even when adopting technology, independents need to stay true to their authentic identity. That’s going to lead to long-term success in the independent channel.”
Investing in future leaders also means going back to the basics and making sure those leaders understand the fundamentals of retail that have made TAL and other independents successful: taking care of the customer, operating clean stores and stocking the products that customers want and need. He believes this generation of next-gen leaders has the opportunity to fully embrace technology to help them make better decisions, speed up decision-making and be more efficient. Future leaders can leverage technology to not eliminate people, but to allow people to focus on the customer.
“If we’re letting analytics drive business behind the scenes, then we’re able to invest in the forward-facing employee who’s going to be dealing with that customer—that’s what makes a difference,” Jason says. “Our future leaders need to focus on their relationships and ensure that they build that network around them. They need to lean forward and not get stagnant in their mindset.”
