Stuart C. Irby Co. (Jackson, Miss.): James F. “Jim” Cameron has been named vice president marketing and vendor development. Cameron was formerly with Hubbell Power Systems, where he was director of marketing.
Crescent Electric Supply (East Dubuque, Ill.): Rich Antonaros joins Crescent Electric as manager for the St. Louis district. He has 14 years of industry experience from both the manufacturing and distribution side.
CLS (Hartford, Conn.): John Corey has been named a sales representative in the company's Manchester, N.H., location. He will service the company's electrical contracting customers in the Portland/southern Maine area. Previously, Corey owned Industrial Electric Supply of East Newport and Baileyville, Maine.
Werner Electric Supply of Minnesota (Minneapolis): Kevin Powell has been named president. A licensed professional engineer, Powell has spent 15 years in the electrical industry. He most recently served as vice president of Werner Electric Supply of Minnesota.
Cooper Electric Supply Co. (Tinton Falls, N.J.): Mike Dudas has been appointed president. Dudas joined Cooper Electric in 1997 as vice president of finance.
Klein Tools (Chicago): Klein Tools has made several recent appointments. Keith Bovee has been promoted to business development manager, responsible for developing and enhancing relationships with distributors and end users. With more than 27 years of experience, Bovee joined Klein Tools in 1996 as a district manager. Stephen Norris has been promoted to zone vice president for the western United States, responsible for increasing sales through traditional sales channels. He has 28 years of experience in the tool industry. Alan Frakes has been promoted to zone vice president, responsible for sales activities through traditional channels in the eastern half of the United States. He also leads the HVAC and automotive channels for Klein Tools. David Inman has been appointed business development manager, responsible for end-user business development in the utility, telecommunications and cable markets for the eastern United States region.
W.A.C. Lighting (Garden City, N.Y.): Gloria Yonkin has been appointed chief financial officer. She will oversee the financial departments, including accounting, accounts payable and accounts receivable. In addition, she will manage operations, which includes order entry, information systems, customer service, warehousing, inventory control and shipping. Yonkin previously served as the director of business transformation for a leading business consulting firm where she completed major financial projects for Fortune 100 companies.
Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Little Neck, N.Y.): Mike Hadank has been appointed distribution Mid-Atlantic district sales manager. He joined Leviton in 1999 as a construction sales representative covering the southern Illinois, St. Louis and southern Missouri territories. In his new role, Hadank will spearhead management of the Mid-Atlantic region's construction and industrial sales, including the MRO, construction and commercial sales environments, as well as oversee sales and marketing management of three outside sales agent firms and a staff of 13 inside sales representatives. Dennis French has been appointed lighting controls sales specialist for the metropolitan New York area. French come to Leviton with a background spanning more than 15 years in technical specifications and applications. Additionally, Rick Gavenda has been appointed district sales manager for Leviton's voice and data division, Mid-Atlantic region. He has more than 25 years of electrical industry sales and management experience.
Bridgeport Fittings (Bridgeport, Conn.): Jay Pearson joins Bridgeport Fittings as sales director — south. Pearson has more than 20 years of sales experience within the electrical industry. Kenneth “Rick” Taylor also joins the team as director of product and marketing management. Most recently, he was manager of product development with Edwards Signaling & Security Systems.
Bridgeport Fittings (Bridgeport, Conn.): David Turk has been appointed director of sales, overseeing all sales activities for the business with primary responsibility for the Western sales region. Turk has 26 years of electrical industry experience. Most recently, he was national sales manager and director of sales for Edwards Signaling & Security Systems.
Guarantee Electrical Co. (St. Louis): Patrick McSalley has been appointed vice president of operations for GECO Systems/Tel-Vi, its newly formed division which will handle all electrical systems and low-voltage work. With 17 years at Guarantee, McSalley most recently served as vice president of operations over Illinois and the service department.
Lutron Electronics (Coopersburg, Pa.): Michael Smith has assumed the newly created position of area sales vice president for the Atlantic area. The Lutron veteran joined in the company in 1988. He served most recently as director of distributor sales.
Lam Lighting, a division of the JJI Lighting Group Inc. (Santa Ana, Calif.): Scott Ley has been appointed eastern regional manager. With more than 10 years of sales and management experience in the commercial lighting industry, most recently Ley served as a sales engineer for Holophane Corp.
Vari-Lite, a Genlyte company (Dallas): John Adams has been appointed director of product development. He will direct all engineering and project efforts through his engineering, software and optical staff. Adams is a lighting industry veteran and founder of a U.K. lighting distributor, Lightfactor. Most recently, he directed the engineering, product design and manufacturing operations for Chinese-based Apogee Lighting for the IAG Group.
Lenox (East Longmeadow, Mass.): Rich Wuerthele has been promoted to president of sales. He joined the company in December 2002 as vice president of sales to lead the transition of the sales organization after the acquisition of Lenox by Newell Rubbermaid in January 2003.
Power Measurement (Victoria, B.C.): Ruston Johnson has been appointed district sales manager for Louisiana, Mississippi and western Tennessee. He will work with the company's sales team in the western United States. Johnson joined Power Measurement in 2003, after several years with Fluor Daniel.
Toshiba America (Irvine, Calif.): Vincent J. Giovinco has been appointed national sales manager, Medical Imaging/Factory Automation (ME/FA Group). The ME/FA Group is one of two groups under the Imaging Systems division, which is part of the Digital Solutions division of Toshiba America Information Systems. Giovinco will oversee sales and marketing activities of the Toshiba brand industrial video cameras, which are used in the factory automation, medical, machine vision, nondestructive testing and specialty video markets.
Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Houston): H. Roddy Allen has announced his retirement as president, CEO and director, effective June 30. He is succeeded by current Chairman C. Byron Snyder. Snyder is the founder of IES and has been chairman of the board since its inception in 1997.
Obituaries
Charles Currie Sr., former president of North Star Lighting Inc., died June 1. He was 80 years old.
Currie was a member of the Electric Association of Chicago Hall of Fame. He was a veteran of World War II, serving with the Army Air Corp. as a pilot of the B-17.
Currie is survived by a son, Charles P. Currie Jr.; two daughters, Patricia C. Sweeney and Barbara C. Bridges; and six grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the American Cancer Society, 100 Palatine Road, Suite 150, Palatine, IL 60067; or to the American Heart Association, Memorial and Tributes Lockbox, 3816 Paysphere Circle, Chicago, IL 60674.
Jolynn Wisted Rogers, who served as merchandising manager for Ideal Industries in the late 1980s and 1990s and later joined Square D as sales operation manager, died June 27. She was 49 years old.
Rogers taught countless electrical distributors how to redesign counter areas and promote their companies more professionally by drawing from merchandising strategies from the retail world.
She is survived by her husband, Rick; two children, Courtney and Jordan; her mother, Annabea Wisted; and three brothers.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial is being established for Jolynn Rogers in care of Anderson Funeral Home Ltd., P.O. Box 605, 2011 S. Fourth St., DeKalb, IL 60115. For information, call (815) 756-1022.