SESCO Lighting Inc., Maitland, FL, and Marvin Bochner Inc. (MBI), Miami, FL, have announced a strategic agreement effective Nov. 2. The agreement allows two long-standing companies to leverage their collective marketplace strengths together. MBI will enhance the efforts of SESCO’s existing Distributor Solutions Group in Florida, excluding the Pensacola market.
The companies will maintain their existing management and organizational structures and have no ownership in one another. Mark and Sid Bochner will continue to own and operate MBI, and SESCO will continue as an employee-owned company, with 280 employee-owners. The key leads on this partnership for SESCO Lighting are Dan Smith, director of distributor relations, and Turner Nabors, distributor and industrial outside sales lead. On the MBI side, this effort will be led by Mark Bochner, president, and Scott Racy, VP of sales.
President and CEO of SESCO Lighting, Todd Langner said in the press release, “This alliance marks SESCO’s first serious foray back into the NEMRA world since our company’s beginnings over 50 years ago. Our primary motivations are to better serve our distributor partners and manufacturers at distribution. We’ve been exceptionally fortunate to find a willing strategic partner with the rich history and deep experience and relationships of MBI.”
Mark Bochner, president of MBI, said in the press release that SESCO and MBI will utilize a combined sales force to serve their distributor partners, contractor and specification partners to enhance manufacturers’ market penetration. “I feel this will allow our distributor partners to be more profitable as we pursue stock and projects business as a combined sales force,” he said in the release.
MBI was founded by Marvin Bochner in 1963. He initially secured five product lines to represent in South Florida. Bochner and 28 other independent manufacturers’ representatives founded National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMRA) in 1969. The company has a 68,000-sq-foot redistribution facility with a 20,000-sq-ft open outside storage yard. Its sales team consists of 13 inside sales support members; seven outside salespeople; and two specification salespeople.
Founded in 1967, SESCO Lighting promotes itself as the nation’s largest lighting rep, with more than 280 employees and annual sales exceeding $300 million. The company is 100% employee-owned with 14 branch offices and eight support divisions covering Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and the Caribbean.