National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA, Tarrytown, N.Y.): NEMRA announced its board of directors for 2004-2005 at its annual conference held in Philadelphia the first week in March. New officers are: Chairman Denis Lawless, LESCO Inc., Minneapolis; Chairman-Elect Jack Floyd, Downie, Turner & Buress of Maryland, Columbia, Md.; Secretary/Treasurer Ralph Bliquez, H & K Sales and Marketing Inc., Portland, Ore.; Immediate Past Chairman Samuel E. Johnson, Electra-Tek Carolinas Inc., Greensboro, N.C. Other board members are Michael J. Criste, Herco-Criste, Pittsburgh; Don Kaminsky, Allied Group Sales Inc., Phoenix; Robert R. McNerney, ElectriGroup, Sacramento, Calif.; Chris Brazill, Brazill Brothers & Associates Inc., Metuchen, N.J.; James Yore, Electrical Marketing Services, Altamonte Springs, Fla.; Kevin Weber, Electrical Materials Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich.; Bob Smith, Pass & Seymour/Legrand, Syracuse, N.Y.; Henry P. Bergson, NEMRA president; and Nancy J. Sciotto, NEMRA vice president of operations.
NEMRA also announced the members of the Association's Manufacturers Group (NMG) Executive Committee: Chairman David Burnette, Wheatland Tube, Collingswood, N.J.; Co-chairman, Kathy Jo Van, Coleman Cable Inc., Waukegan, Ill.; Immediate Past Chairman Robert Bukowsky, Ideal Industries, Sycamore, Ill.; William Cheetham, Leviton Manufacturing, Little Neck, N.Y.; Michael Nychay, Shat-R-Shield Inc., Salisbury, N.C.; Kenneth W. Hooper, Ferraz Shawmut Inc., Newburyport, Mass.; Ray Kennedy, Arlington Industries, Scranton, Pa.; John Hoffman, The Wiremold Co., West Hartford, Conn.; Tim Taylor, Intermatic Inc., Spring Grove, Ill.; Jeff Sherman, PW Eagle, Eugene, Ore.; and Gary Norris, ILSCO, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rick Angel, senior vice president, electrical distribution, Lutron Electronics Co., Coopersburg, Pa., was awarded NEMRA's Thomas F. Preston Manufacturer of the Year Award. Gil Venturelli, director of sales for Regal Manufacturing, City of Industry, Calif., was also singled out for honors by NEMRA during its conference. Venturelli was cited for his career-long dedication and contributions to independent reps, NEMRA and the electrical industry.
Reel-O-Matic (Oklahoma City): Terry Simmons has been appointed president/CEO of Reel-O-Matic. Simmons has been with Reel-O-Matic for more than 30 years, the last 10 as vice president of sales and marketing.
Rural Electric Supply Co. (RESCO, Middleton, Wis.) V. Lynn Graybill has been appointed president and chief executive officer. Graybill brings more than 25 years of distribution and executive management experience to RESCO. Most recently, he served as president and chief executive officer of Prime Holding Inc., which has distribution and manufacturing operations in Texas, Mississippi and Florida.
Service Wire Co. (Culloden, W. Va.): The Phoenix sales office recently promoted Mari Hermansky to the position of sales representative. The 17-year Service Wire veteran's sales territory includes Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Pump and Irrigation sales. Additionally, Deanna Sorrels has been promoted to sales assistant/customer service representative. The five-year company veteran will assist the entire Phoenix sales staff.
Rexel (Dallas): Pierre Ferrère has been appointed as director of supplier relations of the Rexel Group, a subsidiary of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute Group, Paris. This is a newly created position within the corporate business department. Ferrère will reinforce and develop collaboration with the Group's key strategic suppliers by setting up methods and tools intended to improve qualification of the interfaces between Rexel and its suppliers. With nearly 20 years business experience, Ferrère, joined the Pinault-Printemps-Redoute Group in 1999. In another change, Rexel appointed Ross McInnes as director and member of the audit committee at its meeting of Rexel's board of directors on Jan. 21. McInnes replaces Gilles Erulin, who resigned. The appointment will be submitted to approval at the Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting to be held May 24.
Summit Electric Supply (Albuquerque, N.M.): Summit Electric Supply has announced several changes to its team. Jack Justilian, a well-known electrical industry veteran, recently joined Summit as service center performance coach. With more than 30 years of experience, including domestic and international responsibilities, most recently Justilian spent seven years as president of Maurice Electric, Washington, D.C. In his new position, Justilian will conduct operational reviews and consult with service center management teams to improve operations and ensure Summit's standards are met or exceeded. Matt Connell, CPA, joins the company as controller. With more than 13 years of accounting experience, Connell most recently served as the controller of Cummins Rocky Mountain, a Cummins engine distributor in Denver. Rod Gowen has been appointed vice president of supplier and product strategy. Gowen comes to Summit with 25 years experience in the electrical distribution business, most recently serving as an area manager responsible for running a $60 million division of Rexel. Gowen will be responsible for working with a team of associates to develop and roll out Summit's Strategic Supplier initiative. Additionally, Sheila Hernandez has been appointed vice president of marketing. The 17-year Summit veteran has served in a number of capacities including marketing director.
Buckles-Smith Electric (San Jose, Calif.): Buckles-Smith has expanded its presence in Northern California with new sales offices in the North Bay and the Central Valley. Kimball Beaver joins the distributor as sales manager for the North Bay and brings with him more than 20 years of experience selling electrical supplies and automation products, most recently as branch manager of CED in Santa Rosa, Calif. Nineteen-year company veteran Jeff Carpenter has assumed the role of sales manager for the Central Valley.
Crum Electric Supply (Casper, Wyo.) Jeff Hockin has been promoted to president and chief operating officer. In addition, Jim Roden has been promoted to vice president of operations, and Dave M. Crum to vice president of sales and marketing. Hockin has been with Crum Electric Supply for 18 years, serving the electrical industry both as chairman of Affiliated Distributor's DataCom Task Force and as a member of their Electrical Supply Division Products Committee. Roden, a 16-year Crum Supply veteran, has played an integral role in the growth of the company, assisting in the acquisition of five companies and instrumental in moving the company processes from manual operations to an integrated computer-based system. Dave M. Crum joined the company in July 1999 as the software specialist for Crum Electric Supply.
Thomas Research Products (Wauconda, Ill.): Glenn Garbowicz has been named president of the Thomas Research Products subsidiary of Varon Lighting Inc.
Grainger (Chicago): Wesley M. Clark, president and chief operating officer, will leave the company to pursue other opportunities effective June 1. He will also resign from the board. As part of the reorganization, Executive Vice President James Ryan, a 24-year company veteran, has been selected group president of the Grainger-branded businesses in the United States. In another move at the company, Kevin A. Peters has been promoted to vice president, supply chain operations. Peters previously served as vice president, inventory management for Grainger. In his new role, Peters will oversee Grainger's product availability and logistics network.
Varon Lighting Inc. (Elmhurst, Ill.): Perry Romano has been appointed president of Varon Lighting Inc. Romano was previously vice president of the Varon Outdoor Group. He has more than 30 years lighting industry experience.
Wabash Electric (Wabash, Ind.): Phillip Kurzhal has joined Wabash Electric as the branch manager in Elkhart, Ind. Kurzhal has been associated with the electrical industry for the last 23 years, most recently as the powerhouse plant manager for Koontz-Wagner Electric.
Wiseway Supply (Florence, Ky.): Jeff Howard joins Wiseway as purchasing director after working in corporate managerial positions over the last several years.
Hellermann Tyton (Milwaukee): Terry Tuttle has been promoted to director of marketing. She will lead the company's corporate and product marketing to include branding, marketing research, customer relations and training activities. She will also oversee product management of the company's cable management and identification product lines.