Technology Research Corp. (Clearwater, Fla.): Owen Farren resigned his positions as chairman of the board, CEO and president of the company, “to pursue other interests.” Ray Malpocher, TRC's lead director, will oversee daily management of the company until a successor CEO has been appointed.
Venture Lighting International (Solon, Ohio): Paul Johnson has joined the company as director, strategic marketing and business development. Johnson brings 25 years of electrical industry experience including sales, marketing and management roles at Cooper Industries/Bussmann, Littelfuse, Daniel Woodhead Co., Ericson Manufacturing and Halex. He holds a B.A. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Washington University, St. Louis. Mo.
Werner Electric Supply of Wisconsin (Neenah, Wis.): Eric Meyer as is now the product manager of clean energy products. He has worked in the electrical industry for more than 10 years and supports the company's electrical product lines and clean energy products. Werner Electric Supply will be selling solar, wind, car charging stations and smart grid technology products.
LED One (Hangzhou, China): Boyd Corbett is now V.P. of sales for the company's North American subsidiary, LED One Inc. Corbett will develop sales channels, marketing and sales strategies and customer relationships in North America for the company's solid-state lighting products. He previously held executive sales and marketing positions with Philips Lighting and Belfer Lighting Group and has been an active member of the IESNA for 25 years, serving on the organization's board of directors and as treasurer and director. He is currently president of the IESNA's Chicago section. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Hangzhou, China, with a division just launched in North America, LED One specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of LED lighting products for commercial and residential lighting applications.
Leviton Lighting and Energy Solutions (LES) (Tualatin, Ore.): As part of its focus on energy management for commercial, industrial and government facilities, Leviton announced a promotion and two new hires. Bob Hurley is now director of OEM sales for the Lighting and Energy Solutions business. He has 10 years of sales experience with Leviton's OEM products. He will report to Richie Westfall, V.P./general manager. Also in the LES business unit, Tim Davidick was hired as director of government business development, capitalizing on his 15-plus years of experience in the government sector. Formerly with Gridpoint-ADMMicro as well as Booz Allen Hamilton, Davidick spearheaded the creation, development and implementation of sub-metering and energy management programs for several military installations in the United States.
The LES division also hired Troy Hull as director of metering products to focus on the commercial grade sub-metering market. He has 18 years of experience in the utility and sub-metering industry. Formerly with Integrated Metering Systems and Energy Billing Systems, Hull spearheaded the creation, development and implementation of sub-metering and energy management programs for several privatized military housing portfolios at military installations in the United States.
Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures (Belding, Mich.): Thomas Gambon has been appointed division controller. He has more than 30 years of financial management and accounting experience, most recently as a CFO of Humphrey Products Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. Gambon earned a B.S. in finance from Northern Illinois University.
National Lighting Bureau (NLB) (Silver Spring, Md.): Howard Lewis, representing the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), has been re-elected chair of the National Lighting Bureau. Also re-elected to NLB offices were Vice Chair Cary Mendelsohn (Imperial Lighting Maintenance Co.), representing the International Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO), and Secretary/Treasurer James Yorgey, technical applications manager for NLB sponsor Lutron Electronics Co. Inc. Lewis is the president of Lighting Alternatives, a fluorescent fixture manufacturer headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. Long active in IES activities, he recently completed his third, nonconsecutive term as president of the IES Philadelphia Section.
Anixter International Inc. (Glenview, Ill.): Dennis Letham will retire as executive V.P. and CFO in June following an 18-year career with the company as CFO. Effective July 1, Ted Dosch will assume those posts. Dosch has served as the company's senior V.P. of global finance since Jan. 2009. Prior to joining Anixter, Dosch served in a variety of senior financial management positions with Whirlpool Corp., most recently CFO, North America.
EGS Electrical Group (Rosemont, Ill.): Lauren Harrington has been appointed marketing communications specialist for the brands of the EGS Electrical Group, including SolaHD. She holds a B.A. from Purdue University and was most recently employed as the public relations manager for USA Team Handball.
National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) (St. Louis, Mo.): Craig Riley, long-time publisher of Industrial Distribution magazine, has been appointed publisher of TED magazine. Riley's appointment comes after the previous TED publisher, Michael Martin, left to become president and CEO of the National Wood Flooring Association, based in St. Louis. Riley worked for Industrial Distribution for nearly 20 years until it ceased operations in 2009.
Sonepar Canada (Mississauga, Ontario): Paul Lachance has been appointed V.P. of vendor relations. He spent over 23 years at Wolseley Canada (formerly the mechanical division of Westburne), where he was most recently president and CEO. Under his direction, the company more than doubled its annual revenue and established itself as the largest heating and plumbing distribution company in Canada. Sonepar Canada has more than 90 branches within six operating companies — Century Vallen, Gescan BC, Gescan Prairies, Lumen, Osso Electric and Texcan.
Graybar Electric Co. (St. Louis): Andy Ciccone is now district vice president for the company's Tampa district, effective April 1. In total, the Tampa district includes 20 locations and nearly 500 employees. Ciccone started his career with Graybar in 1992 and advanced through several customer service, sales and management roles, most recently serving as director of electrical sales in Graybar's Richmond district. He holds a B.S. business administration degree in marketing from Texas A&M University and is a graduate of the Rutgers-Graybar Supply Chain Management Program.
Fulham Co., Inc. (Hawthorne, Calif.): Dr. Michael Bremser has joined the company as V.P. and global product manager of LED Products, including Fulham, ThoroLED, LED Drivers, LED Lamps and LED Lightbars. Bremser holds a Ph.D. in materials engineering from N.C. State University and has 17 years of experience in blue/white LED development in academic, commercial and international environments. His experience includes R&D, manufacturing and applications engineering for companies including Aixtron and Permlight. He also serves as a technical consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Rep News
Nancy Martin, Martin Electrical Sales Inc., Kirkwood, Mo., won Electrical Wholesaling's 2011 Ganzenmuller Electrical Marketing (GEM) Award. Kelly Boyd, ElectroRep Inc., Sausalito, Calif., won the GEM Rising Star Award. (See page 31).
At the annual NEMRA conference, held in Boston Feb. 15-19, Greg James, Western regional V.P. for Legrand won NEMRA's regional manager award and Richard Barna, president, RAB Lighting, won NEMRA's Thomas F. Preston Award for Electrical Manufacturers.
In other news at NEMRA, Arlington Industries Inc., Scranton, Pa., gave out its 2010 sales awards at the conference. Winners are as follows: Joan Burton, Meglio & Associates, Hazelwood, Mo., received Arlington's Inside Sales Award; Humelec Associated Ltd., Mississauga, Ontario, joined the One Million Dollar Club; Meglio & Associates Inc. received the National Sales Achievement Award; Fruen's Sales Co., Plymouth, Minn., won the Central Region Sales Achievement Award; Keyline Sales, Albuquerque, N.M., won the Western Region Sales Achievement Award; and Tower Sales Inc., Suwanee, Ga., claimed the Southern Regional Sales Achievement Award. The Eastern Region Sales Achievement Award was shared by co-winners Holbrook Associated Inc., Rockland, Mass., and P&M Sales, South Windsor, Conn. Munden Enterprises Ltd., Wolfville, Nova Scotia, took home the Canadian Sales Achievement Award.
Obituary
Paul Gubany, a senior Bussmann executive known throughout the fuse industry for decades, passed away Jan. 25. In 1993, Bussmann/Cooper Industries named its world-testing facility in suburban St. Louis after him, the Paul Gubany Center for High Power Technology. According to his obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he was the husband of the late Mildred Gubany; father of Carolyn (John) Hopkins, Paul L. Gubany and Peter (Vicki) Gubany; and a grandfather of six grandchildren.