Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, N.D.): The company announced several promotions and the retirement of a key executive. Gerald “Poke” Buck has been named senior V.P. of sales and marketing; Keith Holland has been named V.P. of supply chain services; Phil Settles has been named V.P. of the company's South Central region; and Blake Sexton, V.P. business development, has been named to the BSE executive council.
In other news at the company, Greg Thrall, senior V.P. of operations and IT, retired on March 31 after 39 years. He served in many management positions at the branch and corporate levels, including assistant warehouse supervisor, city desk representative, account manager, branch manager, and senior V.P. operations and IT.
W.W. Grainger Inc. (Lake Forest, Ill.): O.W. Eric Nowlin has been named president, Acklands - Grainger, Inc., Grainger's Canadian subsidiary. In this role, Nowlin will oversee the growth and performance of Acklands - Grainger and will report directly to Mike Pulick, senior V.P. and president, Grainger International. Nowlin joined Grainger's U.S. business in 2006 as a regional branch services V.P. He was later named V.P., business development and most recently served as V.P. of customer service, where he led Grainger's multi-channel customer service network in the U.S. comprising 5,800 team members, 370 U.S. branches, eCommerce, phone centers, KeepStock customer engagements and Grainger's service offerings. As part of his new role, Nowlin will relocate to the Toronto Area. Prior to joining Grainger, Nowlin spent more than 20 years with Maytag. He holds a BS in business administration from Bowling Green State University.
Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Melville, N.Y): Marvin Hagemeier has been promoted to director of commercial and industrial sales for the Western region. He joined Leviton in 1985 as an electrical distribution sales representative in east and central Texas and has also worked for Leviton as Electrical Distribution sales manager for the company's Dallas district and as South Central regional sales manager. He succeeds Izzy Oleinik, who retired on Jan. 1 after a career of 23 years with Leviton.
In other news at the company, John LaMontagne is now V.P. of sales for the company's Lighting Energy Solutions business unit. In his new role, LaMontagne will be responsible for the sales and specification of Leviton's broad portfolio of lighting systems, metering and energy management products. He most recently served as the director of technical sales for Leviton's Lighting Energy Solutions group. He joined Leviton in 1994 as a specification engineer working for the Electrical Distribution group. LaMontagne holds an electrical engineering degree from the University of Rhode Island.
Klein Tools (Lincolnshire, Ill.): Mark P. Klein has been promoted to vice president, Domestic Sales. Klein has been with the company for over nine years, serving in a progression of roles, most recently as director, North American Sales. In his new role, he will be responsible for the direction, coordination and development of sales growth in the U.S. His new position also entails overseeing the design and execution of strategic sales plans and product promotions for the company's U.S. sales force and representative organizations. Klein holds a BA from the University of Iowa, an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, and has attended executive education programs at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.
Rexel SA (Paris): Peter Hakanson has been appointed group senior V.P. of operations effective July 1 and will manage IT, supply chain management, CRM and e-commerce, quality improvement projects and operational excellence programs across the group. In this new role, he will become a member of Rexel's executive committee, reporting directly to Rudy Provoost, chairman of the management board. Presently Philips Lighting's chief supply officer, Peter Hakanson brings to Rexel a wealth of expertise in supply chain management, process implementation and quality programs.
In other news at the company, Pascal Martin, currently in charge of the overall Rexel group business development and corporate operations organization, will become group senior V.P., corporate strategy, business portfolio management and new business development. In this position, he will be in charge of the group's strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, international clients and new business development, supplier relationship management, marketing, special growth and innovation initiatives. Martin will continue to be a member of the executive committee, as well as the management board.
Fulham Co. Inc. (Hawthorne, Calif.): Leonard Fernandez is now V.P. of the company's Latin America region and will responsible for growing Fulham's presence in Mexico, the Caribbean and all of Latin America. He joins Fulham after most recently serving as senior V.P. for Enfinity Corp., a renewable energy development company. In his 35-year career, Leonard has held a number of executive management positions with General Electric and Group Schneider (Square D).
Halco Lighting Technologies (Norcross, Ga.): Jeff Emerson was hired as product analyst and will assist in Halco's product development by researching industry trends and new technologies and by testing and analyzing Halco and Sollos products.
Ideal Industries (Sycamore, Ill.): Jim James, president and CEO, will assume the additional duties of vice chairman of the board of directors, effective immediately. James joined Ideal in Aug. 2008 in his current role after serving as president of ITW Building Components Group, a division of Illinois Tool Works.
National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) (St. Louis): The association recently announced the recipients of several of its big awards. Tom Cloud, chairman of New Castle, Del.-based United Electric Supply, is the recipient of NAED's highest honor, the 2012 Arthur W. Hooper Achievement Award; Larry Stern, president of Milwaukee-based Standard Electric Supply, was awarded the 2012 NAED Distributor Distinguished Service Award; and Liz O'Grady, national sales manager with Thomas & Betts in Memphis, Tenn., is the recipient of the 2012 Associate Service Award, for her promotion and support of the tenets and goals of NAED.
Nicor (Albuquerque, N.M.): Doug Welter has joined the company as COO, bringing more than 30 years of business, operations and technology experience from the semiconductor, electronics and equipment manufacturing industries. He has a BSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and did graduate work at Arizona State University.
Forest Electric Corp./EMCOR (Edison, N.J.): The company named Robert Richardson senior executive V.P., executive in charge of all New York operations, and announced the appointment of Rich Lomler as executive V.P. and the executive in charge of the company's project execution and operations for the New York area, reporting directly to Richardson. Lomler has more than 20 years of experience in the New York construction market, including 17 years with Forest Electric. Richardson is a 34-year company veteran. In his new position, Richardson will manage estimating, business development and project execution.
LumenOptix (Philadelphia): The company recently appointed four regional sales managers. Bennie Pierce's sales territory comprises the Southeast region, including West Virginia and Texas. Prior to joining LumenOptix, Pierce was a sales rep for Hubbell Building Automation and has expert knowledge in energy-saving lighting and controls. Dennis Pickelsimer, now Western regional manager, had been a principal with Stellar Sales Inc. in La Mirada, Calif., and prior to that a sales rep with Simkar Corp. Michael Goldberg, Northeast regional manager, was previously a territory representative for Juno Lighting. For Midwest Regional Manager, LumenOptix chose Tony Onofrio, who as national sales manager for Modular International in Pittsburgh oversaw more than 100 sales agencies and worked directly with architects, lighting designers and engineers.