Affiliated Distributors (King of Prussia, Pa.): David Oldfather has been promoted to senior vice president, Electrical Supply Division. Oldfather joined A-D in December 2003 as vice president of the Electrical Supply Division and manages A-D's electrical operations in the United States and Canada. Before coming to A-D, David was the senior vice president of sales for the contractor and installer group at Hagemeyer North America. Prior to that, he served as the vice president of sales and marketing, senior vice president of operations, and executive vice president of operations at Tristate Electrical Supply Co.
The Conduit Division of Robroy Industries (Gilmer, Texas): Jeff Riestenberg has been named national sales manager. He will be responsible for planning, managing and directing the sales activity for Robroy's PVC coated conduit product lines. Other duties will include overseeing the activities of all sales rep agencies, technical marketing managers and quotations specialists in their interaction with distributors and end-users. Riestenberg provides more than 25 years of experience in the electrical products industry and has a background in business development, relationship management, training and client service within the design/build community. Denise Hirons has been appointed scheduler/buyer/expeditor. Hirons is responsible for working directly with vendors in negotiating, pricing and delivery of Robroy PVC-coated rigid conduit. Prior to joining Robroy Industries, Hirons gained valuable experience in customer relations, sales and auditing.
Generac Power Systems (Waukesha, Wis.): After 31 years of service to Generac, William Treffert has decided to retire from his position as the company's chief executive officer. He will stay on to assist the company during the transition period. Edward A. LeBlanc becomes the new chief executive officer of the company, effective immediately. LeBlanc has served as non-executive chairman of the company's board of directors for the past year, and has more than 20 years of executive management experience in the industrial and consumer products industry. Prior to joining Generac, LeBlanc was president and chief executive officer of the Residential and Commercial Division of Kidde plc, a supplier of fire protection equipment serving retail, consumer, commercial, industrial and international markets. From 1997 through 2000, he served as president and chief executive officer of Regent Lighting. Clement Feng has been named chief marketing officer. Feng will direct all of Generac's marketing initiatives as the company expands its business. His marketing expertise includes strategic planning, market development, new product development, marketing communications, customer research and brand positioning. Most recently, Feng was vice president, marketing at Broan-NuTone LLC.
Halco Lighting Technologies (Norcross, Ga.): Ernest L. Johnson was appointed to the newly created position of product manager. Johnson will report to David Nelkin, product development director, and fills one of two positions created due to the company's growth. In his new position, Johnson will be responsible for planning, organizing and controlling the fluorescent and halogen lamp product lines from conceptual stages through product life cycles. Most recently, Johnson served as senior product development manager for the Lithonia Lighting Recessed Downlighting & Track product lines.
Columbia Electric Supply Inc. (Brockton, Mass.): Maribel Soto has joined the company as switchgear project manager, working from the Brockton headquarters. In this role, Soto, who has more than eight years' experience in the construction, electrical and distribution fields, will perform a variety of duties, including project management and switchgear business development. Suzanne Pires has joined the company as credit manager. In this role, Pires, who has more than 20 years of experience in the credit and accounting field, will oversee functions within the credit department, including receivables, customer credit extension and risk assessment.
Pass & Seymour/Legrand (Syracuse, N.Y.): Jim Lent has been promoted to marketing communications manager. He will be responsible for P&S marketing and communications initiatives, focusing heavily on the growing retail market segment. Lent joined P&S four years ago, following 13 years in the advertising industry.
The ILSCO Corp. (Cincinnati): Marlon J. Carson has been appointed Western regional manager. Carson comes to ILSCO from Porter-Brown Sales where he was a sales representative covering the Boise and Southern Idaho markets. Carson spent 10 years in electrical distribution in a variety of purchasing and vendor relations roles before joining Porter-Brown. He will cover 13 western states for ILSCO, representing the ILSCO and UTILCO brands.
W.A.C. Lighting (Garden City, N.Y.): Molly McGee has been appointed product designer. She will help expand the W.A.C. Lighting line and help continue to grow the W2 Architectural Lighting line of specification grade products. In her new position, McGee will work closely with the company's team of designers and engineers in New York, California and the company-owned ISO-9001 certified manufacturing facilities in China. She will be working on new designs and significant additions to the firm's extensive lines of decorative and performance-oriented luminaires. During the past 10 years, McGee's career has included designing for The Boeing Aircraft Co. and IceStone, a sustainable surfacing material company.
Ideal Industries Inc. (Sycamore, Ill.): Aaron Mattison has been appointed as the company's product manager for cutting tools. Mattison is a veteran of hardware sales, marketing and management on both the manufacturing and retail sides with brands ranging from Newell Rubbermaid to Indian Motorcycle, Ashland Hardware and Pella. In his new position, Mattison is responsible for developing and implementing strategic sales planning for Ideal's professional-grade saws and drill bits used by electricians, maintenance crews and other contractors. Mattison comes to Ideal from Newell Rubbermaid where he served as product manager for Ashland Hardware Systems casement windows. Prior to that, he was technology leader for Anchor Harvey Components, and manager of manufacturing engineering for National Forge Co.
Emerson (Quincy, Mass.): Craig W. Ashmore has been appointed to the company's Office of Chief Executive (OCE). Also, Edward K. Feeney and Jay L. Geldmacher have been named executive vice presidents and will serve as business leaders for the Emerson network power platform. Ashmore, senior vice president for planning and development, manages Emerson's strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate technology functions, as well as Emerson Network Power's connectivity solutions business. He will join Emerson's senior management team as the fifth member of the OCE. Prior to his current position, which he has held since 2004, Ashmore served as group vice president of Emerson Telecommunication Products and from 2001 to 2003 and was vice president of corporate profit planning. Feeney, who had been senior vice president, heads Emerson Network Power's Systems Group, which provides uninterruptible power, precision cooling, D/C power systems and comprehensive services for data center, computing and telecommunications customers around the world. Feeney began his career with Liebert as vice president of engineering in 1972 and held various executive positions at Liebert in domestic and international sales, international development, corporate development and corporate planning. After Liebert was acquired by Emerson in 1987, Feeney was promoted to president of Liebert North America in 1990. He later served as president of Liebert Worldwide and F.G. Wilson before being named a group vice president in 1999. Geldmacher, who had been group vice president, is president of Emerson Network Power's Embedded Computing & Power Group. Geldmacher joined Emerson in January 1996, and before that he served in various management capacities with Knowles Electronics.
Obituaries
Steve Jedynak, former account manager at Omni Cable, died Sept. 7. He was 58 years old.
Jedynak was a top account manager for Omni Cable in San Francisco (Hayward, Calif.). Prior to working at Omni Cable, Jedynak utilized his expertise in the electrical industry at YC Cable. According to a statement from John Russ, Omni Cable's San Francisco branch manager, Jedynak's contributions to the electrical distribution industry were admired by many, and those who knew him for 10 minutes or 10 years were treated as friends. He is survived by his mother and a sister.