Walters Wholesale Electric Co. (Signal Hill, Calif.): The company recently announced a series of promotions. Bill Durkee, president, created the new structure to prepare for Walters plans to expand its market positions. Dick Benbow, V.P. of sales and marketing, and Denis Evert, V.P. of credit and collections, are now members of the Walters executive committee. They will join John Walter, CEO/chairman, Jimmy Johnson, executive V.P., and Bill Durkee on the committee.
In other personnel moves, Benbow now covers the following sales areas: San Gabriel Valley, Inland Empire, San Diego County, Anaheim, Low Voltage, Residential Lighting and Walters marketing initiatives. Andy Salz, formerly branch manager of the Costa Mesa branch, is now the V.P. of sales and business development. He covers the following areas: Orange County, Los Angeles County, the San Fernando Valley, and business acquisitions and market expansion. Marty Carew has rejoined Walters and is V.P. of sales. He now covers industrial, energy solutions and solar and works with Ryan Thibault, Roadway Division manager, to expand roadway/traffic business. Dan Golly, formerly outside salesperson, is now the manager of the Costa Mesa branch and Rafael Vitar, formerly industrial sales manager, has become the manager of Walters' Long Beach location.
Halco Lighting Technologies (Norcross, Ga.): Sharon Akins was promoted to Southeast regional sales manager and will report to David Hosea, V.P. of sales. Akins joined the Halco team in 2003, most recently serving as account manager. She has more than 23 years of experience in sales/customer service. In her new position she will be overseeing sales, training and traveling with independent agencies that service lighting and electrical distributors in seven Southeastern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.
Envoy Lighting (Philadelphia): Tricia Smith has joined the company as director of inside sales. She has more than 15 years of inside sales experience in commercial and industrial lighting products with lighting manufacturer Simkar Corp. and electrical distributors Colonial Electric Supply and Cooper Electric/Sonepar. She has a B.A. in education from West Chester University.
Powers Fasteners (Brewster, N.Y): Stephen Ludwig is now director of the newly developed Electric Tools & Accessories segment. He will work closely with Matthew Chamberlain, V.P. of engineering and product, to address the rapidly expanding market of tools specifically designed for anchor drilling and setting. Ludwig will focus on augmenting Powers' line of anchoring products with the power tools used to install those products. He has more than a decade of management experience with Dewalt and Apex Tool Group (formerly Danaher) and has extensive hands-on experience in electric tools, product development and channel management.
WinWholesale (Dayton, Ohio): New chief financial officers have been appointed for WinWholesale Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Noland Co. Roland Gordon was appointed CFO to replace Jack Johnston who became WinWholesale's president July 11, and Jeff Dice has succeeded Gordon as Noland Co.'s CFO. Dice had been WinWholesale's vice president, electronic data integration. Both CFOs are certified public accountants. Gordon joined WinWholesale in 1999 in its Reno, Nev., office and became the Noland CFO after WinWholesale acquired the company in 2005. Dice has been with WinWholesale since joining the company in 2004 at the Dayton, Ohio, regional office before moving to the corporate headquarters in 2005.
Werner Electric Supply (Neenah, Wis.): Richard Henes recently joined the Werner Electric Supply team as a solar specialist. He has certifications in Renewable Energies Solar and Advanced Solar Installation and will be receiving his design certification from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) in the near future. Henes has 20 years' experience between the construction and electrical installation industry.
Relume Technologies (Oxford, Mich.): This manufacturer of LED products and smart grid control systems for outdoor lighting applications hired Ron Hall and William W. (Wink) Nelson for its sales force. Hall will serve as Relume's regional sales director-Southeast, reporting to Martin Woolard, V.P. of sales. Hall joins Relume from Cree, where he most recently was the regional sales director of Cree's Components Division. Nelson will serve as director of renovation sales-East, reporting to Patrick Gee, senior V.P.-services. For the past three years, Nelson was the energy services manager at Acuity Brands, where he developed relationships with multiple-tier energy service companies and provided audit consulting, product support, incentive programs and lighting analysis.
Mister Sparky (Sarasota, Fla.): This franchiser of electrical contracting businesses has selected Bill Murdy as its next brand president. Murdy will serve as president-elect until January 2012 when he will succeed Jamie Wilkie, Mister Sparky's first brand president. Murdy was elected by Mister Sparky franchise owners from across the United States following a competitive election process. He holds a degree in electrical engineering, has been a business owner for more than 25 years, and is a 25-year member of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI). His Oceanside, N.Y., Mister Sparky has twice been featured in Successful Contractor magazine. Mister Sparky has nearly 100 locations across the United States.
Ilsco (Cincinnati): Jim Kosciolek has joined the company as senior V.P. of sales and marketing and will be responsible for all U.S. sales and marketing functions, including electrical distribution, the OEM and utility segments, as well as Ilsco's customer service group. With 25 years of electrical industry experience, he most recently worked as V.P. of sales of Mersen (formerly Ferraz and Gould Shawmut). He also spent six years at Pass & Seymour/Legrand in various sales and marketing functions. In addition, Kosciolek is chairman-elect of the NAED Manufacturers' Council.
In other news at Ilsco, Joseph Avanzato was promoted to national specification manager where he will represent the company at end users, specifying influences, OEMs, contractors and distributors; William Hunt is now the Southern regional manager for the wholesale distribution business, joining the company from Nashville-based rep firm Bailey/Martin & Associates; and Stephen Bruns was promoted to the newly created position of marketing research manager for Ilsco's Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) division. MaryJo Heffernan, a 15-year company veteran, will take on new responsibilities in her role as manager, distributor services, a position she has held for the majority of her tenure with Ilsco, and Colleen Morgan was promoted to quotations analyst for Ilsco's OEM division.
WAC Lighting (Garden City, N.Y): Maher Shaheen has joined the company as Central regional sales manager and will share oversight of national business development responsibilities with Ryan Berlin, Eastern regional sales manager, and Tim Vislay, Western regional sales manager. Dirk Wald, V.P. of business development, will continue to manage the Canadian sales territory, in addition to his other sales and marketing executive functions. With more than 20 years of lighting industry experience, Shaheen will oversee WAC Lighting's team of sales representatives throughout a territory that extends from the upper Midwestern states down to the Southeast and the Caribbean. Prior to joining WAC Lighting, Shaheen worked for Lamps Plus. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Business Administration.
J.H. Larson (Plymouth, Minn.): Lisa Fox will join the company as director of sales. She has 23 years of experience in the electrical industry holding various management positions. Most recently, she served as district market manager for a major electrical distributor in the Twin Cities area. She is a graduate of Macalester College and also a graduate of St. Catherine's Emerging Leaders program.
Obituary
Jim Newton, 84, of Oakes Electric Supply/Horizon Solutions, Holyoke, Mass., passed away on Aug. 11 at his home in South Hadley, Mass. He learned the industry from his father at Oakes Electric Supply before venturing off into several new pursuits, including Sales Tech Corp., a sales, marketing and training company, and Profile Systems, an early player in e-business. Newton wrote for Electrical Wholesaling for decades and created the Electrical Products Education Course (EPEC) for the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED). His obituary in The Republican says he is survived by his wife, Louise, and five children: James B. Newton Jr. and wife Christiane; Carla W. Newton; Cynthia Neumann and husband Gus; Linda Newton-Hoey and husband Mark of Holyoke; and Jeffrey T. Newton and wife, Sarah, as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Newton's obituary says that instead of sending flowers, he wants you to take a friend to lunch.