Vanguard National Alliance Inc. (Framingham, Va.): The national accounts entity of Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley distributors recently appointed Gary E. DeVost president and chief executive officer. DeVost, a seasoned executive with experience in electrical distribution as well as manufacturer sales within the electrical and automation industry, has held executive level positions at Horizon Solutions, Hubbell and Hoffman. Current President and co-founder David C. Pratt will transition to the role of chief information officer, focusing on further developing VNA's technology platform, e-commerce initiatives and other strategic projects.
Summit Electric Supply (Albuquerque): Steve Peterson has joined the company's management team in the newly created position of area sales manager, central Texas. Peterson will be responsible for growing sales and market share with current and potential customers in the Central Texas area. Peterson is a well-known and respected figure within the industry. He began his career in the electrical distribution industry in 1968 and most recently held the position of president/CEO of Minnesota Electric Supply in Willmar, Minn. Victor Jury, Jr., Summit's president and CEO, and Peterson worked together while serving on the board of directors of The IMARK Group.
Border States (Fargo, N.D.): Matthew Eddleman has been named senior vice president-Southwest & South Central regions, vendor relations. Eddleman previously served as vice president-Southwest region with general management responsibilities for seven branches in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. His responsibilities now include 16 more branches in Texas, two additional branches in New Mexico, and vendor relations. Before joining Border States, he served in sales and marketing as well as general management positions for Rexel. Russ Rettus has been appointed South Central region manager and to the company's executive council. Rettus joined Border States in January 2000 as branch manager in Farmington, N.M. He moved to Border States' Tucson, Ariz., branch where he has been branch manager since 2003. He will relocate to Austin, Texas, and have general management responsibilities for 18 branch locations in Texas and New Mexico. Before joining Border States, he was senior purchasing agent for Rosendin Electric. Mike Blanchard has joined Border States as the Arizona sales manager. With more than 25 years of experience in the electrical distribution industry, Blanchard will manage sales of more than $100 million for Border States' contractor, industrial, and automation markets in the state of Arizona. Before joining Border States, Blanchard was vice president of sales for OneSource Distributors and, most recently, senior vice president for B&K Electric Wholesale.
Leviton Manufacturing Co. (Little Neck, N.Y.): Chuck Rich has been promoted to business development director for the company's Government Business Development Program. Rich will spearhead sales of the company's voice and data networking solutions to U.S. government and military installations. He will also oversee joint sales with the government's network of certified contractors and system integrators. Rich began his career with Leviton in 2004 as national business development manager for government business, where he managed the sale of voice, data and connectivity solutions. Rich has held numerous positions in military communications and has also held civilian positions with General Dynamics, Griffin Services, Urban Media Communications and MCS of Tampa where his responsibilities included the sales and implementation of network, security and communication systems.
WAC Lighting (City of Industry, Calif.) Chris Johnston has been appointed Western regional sales manager. Johnston will work closely with lighting showrooms and residential sales agencies. In addition, he will work with designers, engineers, specifiers and commercial sales agencies to grow W2 Architectural Lighting, WAC Lighting's commercial division. Johnston will oversee sales in all states west of the Mississippi, as well as Mexico and Central America.
RAB Lighting (Northvale, N.J.): Terry Crawley has joined RAB Lighting as regional sales manager covering the Southeast. He brings 15 years of lighting experience to the RAB team. Crawley was previously with Zumtobel Lighting as a regional manager and with BEGAUS, also in the position of regional manager. Crawley is a member of IESNA and the USGBC (US Green Building Council) and has recently become “Green Advantage Certified.”
Engineered Products Co. (Minneapolis): Geoff Turner has been named Western regional sales manager. Over the past 10 years, Turner has covered multi-state territories in the western region of the United States for FCI Burndy, Codale Electric Supply, Graybar Electric and Philips Lighting Co.
Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. (Atlanta): Jeff Timms has been appointed vice president, Electronics Assembly Systems division (EA). Timms was named acting vice president earlier this year to fill a position vacated by Vice President Guenter Lauber, who accepted a senior leadership position with the A&D global Electronics Assembly Systems Division in Munich, Germany. During his career with Siemens, Timms has held several management positions of increasing responsibility, including vice president of services and sales and general manager of the Electronics Assembly Business Unit. Before being named acting EA vice president, Timms had a four-year assignment as the division's vice president of marketing and sales. In this position, he was responsible for all aspects of positioning, pricing, distribution and selling of EA products and services throughout the Americas.
Schaedler Yesco Distribution (Harrisburg, Pa.): Dean Krout has been appointed vice president of marketing and information systems. Krout, former manager of IT and marketing, will continue to manage the IT and marketing departments as well as have additional responsibilities that include the purchasing department.
Garvin Industries (Franklin Park, Ill.): Melanie Chudzik has been promoted to inside sales assistant for local distribution. Chudzik will be working alongside Garvin Sales Distributor Manager John Arcand. Chudzik came to Garvin Industries after five years with Marketing Innovators International of Rosemont, Ill., where she worked her way up to senior customer care coordinator.
ProtectConnect (Irvine, Calif.): Stephen P. Anderson has been named chief executive officer for this modular wiring systems device manufacturer. His responsibilities will include oversight of all branding, customer service and product development for the company, plus maximization of resources and development of long-term strategies. He will also work closely with the corporate team and the board of directors. Previously, Anderson served as president and CEO of Enkeboll Designs of Carson, Calif. Before that, he served as president and CEO for Innovative Home Products, a consultant for the private equity firm of William E. Simon, and as president of Stanley Door Systems.
WinWholesale (Dayton, Ohio): Judy Waters has been named credit director for the Dayton-based company. Waters will oversee credit management services for the nearly 560 local Win and Noland locations across the United States. These local companies serve their customers under the Winnelson, Winair, Winlectric, Windustrial, Winsupply, Wintronic, Winwater Works, and Noland brands. Waters joins WinWholesale from McJunkin where she was director of credit and held other accounting and business development positions during her 13 years with the industrial distributor. Waters will be located at the company's Dayton corporate headquarters.