Affiliated Distributors (AD) (Wayne, Pa.): David Oldfather has been promoted to president of AD's Electrical Divisions. Oldfather's promotion to president is part of AD's establishment of fully empowered, fully resourced strategic business units for each AD Division; Electrical, PHCP, Drywall and Industrial. In addition to Oldfather's promotion, Pam Erickson, V.P. of marketing, Electrical Divisions, will focus solely on Electrical Division marketing, reporting to him. In a move to further augment the Electrical Divisions' marketing resources, Laura Dendyuk was also promoted to senior executive assistant and marketing coordinator.
Rexel (Dallas): Mitch Williams has been promoted to senior V.P. Rexel Asia-Pacific, reporting directly to the CEO and chairman of the company's management board in Paris, France. Williams was previously senior V.P. and CEO of Rexel's Gexpro division. The company also announced that Jim Hibberd, V.P. global sales and business development, will replace Williams, and was named senior V.P. and general manager of Gexpro Electrical Distribution, reporting directly to Chris Hartmann, executive V.P. and CEO of Rexel Holdings USA.
Williams, who has spent 21 years with GE Supply/Gexpro starting in sales in 1990, was named to the top position at Gexpro in 2007. In addition to his new and broader role across Rexel, Williams will continue to have responsibility for Gexpro Asia, creating greater collaboration and synergy across the company's business units in that region. In a related announcement, Bob Connors, V.P. of Gexpro Services, will now report directly to Hartmann.
Stanion Wholesale Electric Co. (Pratt, Kan.): Otto Buche, executive V.P., retired Jan. 31. He started with the company as a purchasing agent in the Lawrence, Kan., branch in 1978, and subsequently served as Lawrence branch manager, regional manager, vice president of purchasing and vendor relations and finally as executive vice president. Prior to his employment at Stanion, Buche spent seven years teaching high school history and coaching football, basketball, track and baseball.
Lutron Electronics (Coopersburg, Pa.): Michael Pessina was appointed president of the company. In his 35-year career with Lutron, Pessina has acquired broad experience in the engineering, quality assurance and manufacturing areas. After being promoted through several management positions, he was appointed to senior vice president in 2000, to executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2002, and to president, office of product development, in 2009. Pessina is also a member of Lutron's executive board and Lutron's advisory council. He holds a B.S.E.E from Lafayette College and an MBA from Lehigh University.
Amerlux Energy Services Group (Fairfield N.J.): Paul Ravenelle has been appointed regional director of sales to head the group, which focuses on designing and installing upgraded lighting systems for retail customers such as supermarkets and national chains. Prior to joining Amerlux, Ravenelle most recently served as executive V.P. of operations for Performance Consulting Group; director of business development for Fiberstars/Energy Focus; and regional director of business development for Ameresco; and regional director for Noresco.
Burndy (Manchester, N.H.): Industry veteran Stewart Gale has been appointed senior product manager. For the last four years, Stewart has owned and operated Force 9 Consulting, providing a portfolio of marketing services ranging from sales leadership training, strategic planning, market analysis, customer loyalty programs, project management and public relations. Prior to that, Gale led the marketing effort for Affiliated Distributors as V.P. of marketing and business development. He began his career in the electrical industry with Rockingham Electric Supply, Newington, N.H.
Mersen (Newburyport, Mass.): Roy Ball is now V.P. of research and development, USA/Mexico, responsible for new product research and development and sustaining engineering. He comes to Mersen from ABB where he held a number of positions, including operations and quality manager and senior design engineer. In his latest position as engineering manager, he was responsible for the development of protective relaying products and auxiliary devices, and revamped the product development process for ABB.
Maxlite (West Caldwell, N.J.): William Fenimore is now director of sales, Outdoor Lighting. In his new position, Fenimore will work closely with MaxLite's sales agencies to develop outdoor LED lighting programs for municipalities, DOTs, architects, designers and specifiers across North America. He will be involved in the development and design of outdoor lighting fixtures for a variety of applications including street and flood lighting. Prior to joining MaxLite, he recently completed one of the largest energy-efficient lighting projects in North America, installing nearly 120,000 induction fixtures to replace the existing mercury-vapor, cobrahead fixtures for a major utility in the Northeast. His professional experience includes serving as product manager, Outdoor Lighting and regional sales manager for PSE&G and as a principal for Elite Pro Agency.
Western Extralite (Kansas City, Mo.): John Isenberg, executive V.P of sales and marketing, has announced his role will change within the organization. On Feb. 1, 2013, Isenberg will become V.P. of government sales and report to his replacement. Isenberg decided to move to his new role in order to focus on working with government buyers.
Crescent Electric Supply Co. (East Dubuque, Ill): Nick Burbridge has been named to the position of director of data communication sales. He has been with the company since 1998 and was one of Crescent's first dedicated datacom specialists. In his new role, he will be responsible for continued development and implementation of Crescent's datacom strategy across the company.
Philips Lumileds (San Jose, Calif.): Pierre Yves Lesaicherre is the new CEO of Philips Lumileds, which focuses on LED development for the company. Lesaicherre succeeds Michael Holt and will report directly to Philips Lighting's acting CEO Frans van Houten. He was most recently with NXP Semiconductors as senior V.P and general manager of the Microcontrollers and Logic business lines.