People

Dec. 1, 2003
Independent Electric Supply Inc. (San Carlos, Calif.): The electrical distributor has appointed two new vice presidents: Brent Chaffee and Tom Massip.

Independent Electric Supply Inc. (San Carlos, Calif.): The electrical distributor has appointed two new vice presidents: Brent Chaffee and Tom Massip. With the company since 1986, Chaffee most recently served as branch manager in the Sunnyvale, Calif., branch. Massip, who began his career with General Electric Supply in 1969 and joined Independent Electric Supply in 1994, most recently headed the reorganization of the Sacramento branch.

Cooper Industries Ltd. (Houston): Kirk Hachigian has been appointed chief operating officer. He succeeds Ralph Jackson, who is retiring after 27 years of service but will remain deputy chairman of Cooper's board of directors until his retirement on Dec. 31. Hachigian joined Cooper in 2001 as executive vice president, operations.

Eurobex Manufacturing Ltd. (Montreal): Donald McLorie has been appointed eastern United States sales manager, responsible for all accounts located east of the Mississippi as well as the state of Texas. McLorie has more than 18 years sales management experience in the electrical industry.

Holophane (Newark, Ohio): Larry Gellert has been named vice president, marketing and product development. He comes to Holophane from Litelab, a manufacturer of busway, track and recessed accent lighting, where he served as president, partner and principal.

Wago (Germantown, Wis.): Robert Meliska joins Wago as regional sales manager covering the Chicago metro area as well as northern Illinois. Meliska comes to Wago after an extensive career in sales, marketing and engineering with Rockwell Automation, Entrelec and Joslyn Corp.

Cooper B-Line (Highland, Ill.): A 21-year Cooper B-Line veteran, William Lampen has been promoted to product line manager for the bolted framing and pipe hangers division. Lampen has held various sales and marketing positions at Cooper B-Line.

SLi Lighting (Mullins, S.C.): Chris Siegal has been appointed vice president of the sales I/C division. Prior to this appointment, Siegal was director of purchasing and international logistics.

Draka USA (Franklin, Mass.): Andrew “Andy” Hemingway has been appointed corporate vice president of sales and marketing for the datacom, utility, transit, irrigation, telecommunications and industrial/automation markets. Prior to joining Draka USA, Hemingway was senior vice president of sales and marketing for American Insulated Wire.

The Wiremold Co. (West Hartford, Conn.): The company has named three industry veterans to new positions. John Hoffman, a 15-year Wiremold veteran, is the new vice president of sales. Hoffman has held various positions within the company, including regional sales manager and vice president of marketing. Tom Hudak joins the company as vice president of marketing. He has previously held sales and marketing leadership positions with The Stanley Works, Emerson Electric and Thomas & Betts. Wes Kelley becomes director of specification strategy. Kelley, a 25-year veteran of The Wiremold Co., has held numerous positions, including warehouse distribution manager and national sales manager.

Tyco Electrical and Metal Products (Harvey, Ill.): Roger Vaught recently joined the company as director of sales and marketing. Previously with B-Line Systems and Thomas & Betts Corp., Vaught has more than 20 years electrical sales and marketing management experience.

Cooper Wiring Devices (CWD) (Long Island City, N.Y.): Mike Mininger has been appointed manager of North American operations. He will be responsible for manufacturing operations at Long Island City as well as Brunswick, Maine. Mininger has been with CWD for 13 years in engineering and manufacturing. Simultaneously, Bill Penrod has been appointed Maine operations site manager at the Brunswick plant. Penrod has been with the company since 1998.

Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting (Carlsbad, Calif.): Victor Samano has been named regional sales manager for California's Orange and San Diego counties. Prior to joining Vista, Samano spent eight years in landscape sales lighting with CH Sales, a nationwide manufacturer's rep firm.

Thomas Lighting (Louisville, Ky.): Wade Macht has joined the company as manager of new business development, focusing on the national builder market. Macht spent the last eight years with Alcoa Building Products primarily in new construction and builder sales.

Kitco Fiber Optics (Virginia Beach, Va.): Cathy Dunn has been appointed business development manager. With more than 13 years of sales and marketing experience in the telecommunications industry, Dunn holds the RCDD (Registered Communications Distribution Designer) designation.

Kirby Risk (Lafayette, Ind.): Rod Kelly has been promoted to vice president, central Illinois district. With Kirby Risk since 1995, Kelly most recently served as an area sales manager. Darryl Ballinger, after 11 years with the company, has been appointed branch manager for the Richmond, Ind., location. Most recently, he was an account manager at the Connersville, Ind., location.

Howard Industries Inc. (Laurel, Miss.): Robert “Bob” Pressler III, joins the company's ballast division as the southeast regional manager. Previously, he was regional sales manager at FSC Lighting.

Morlite Systems Inc. (Erie, Pa.): Claude Sarti has been appointed vice president and brand manager. A veteran of the commercial lighting industry, Sarti most recently served as director of sales for the JJI Lighting Group's Alkco division.

American Fluorescent (Waukegan, Ill.): Phillip Alexander joins the company as director of light commercial sales. Alexander will lead and implement American Fluorescent's launch into the light commercial market and oversee its current OEM and hospitality divisions. Alexander has more than 30 years experience in the lighting fixtures market, most recently at Forecast Lighting where he was vice president and general manager.

Briteland Industries Corp. (Ontario, Calif.): Bruce Hartnett was appointed director of marketing, bringing 30 years of lighting industry experience to Briteland.

Alpha Wire Co. (Elizabeth, N.J.): Gerald Di Petrillo Jr. rejoins the company as western sales manager. Di Petrillo was previously employed by Alpha Wire in various sales management positions from 1992 to 2000.

Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting (Simi Valley, Calif.): Robert Shields has been named regional field technical specialist, based in Wilmington, N.C., and will cover Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Shields has more than 25 years experience in the landscape lighting business, most recently with Terra Metrics Inc.

Edge Marketing & Procurement (Houston): Ted Ingber has been appointed director of sales and marketing, datacom. Ingber has 13 years experience in the datacom market, most recently as national sales manager for AESP/Signamax.

OBITUARIES

Austin Ball Watson, co-founder of Watson Electric Supply Co., Dallas, died Oct. 26. He was 89 years old. Austin Watson and his brother, Houston, founded Watson Electric Supply in 1947. Over the next 50 years, the distributorship grew to 18 locations and 230 employees. In 1997, the brothers sold Watson Electric Supply to the Warren Electric Group. Austin Watson is survived by his wife, Mildred “Millie” Watson; son, Anthony “Tony” Watson; grandchildren, A. Reed Watson, Peter Watson, Anne Watson and Nancy Watson; and sister, Nobie McGill. His brother, Houston B. Watson, preceded him in death.

Steven Edward Mattos, who owned the electrical manufacturers' representative firm Healy-Mattos Inc. in Hayward, Calif., died unexpectedly Oct. 29. He was 56. Steven Mattos entered the electrical industry in 1973 when he went to work for Westinghouse Electric Supply Co. Later, he joined his father at Healy-Mattos and eventually took over the business. He is survived by his wife, Patricia; his parents, Anna and Edward Mattos; three sons, Marc, Michael and Tyler; three daughters, Jenney, Molly and Emily; and grandchildren, Alexis, Cole and Briana.

Maurice Michael “Mike” Yaffee, co-founder of Glens Falls Electric Supply Corp., Queensbury, N.Y., died Nov. 6 at the age of 93. Mike Yaffee founded the electrical distributorship with Ed Pert in 1932 and remained active in the business until the recent years. He is survived by his children, Dr. Robert Yaffee, Dr. Glenn Yaffee and Dana Yaffee; his grandson, Steven Yaffe; his brother, Benjamin Yaffee; and his sister, Bernice Rosenstein. His wife, Elizabeth, preceded him in death.