Fromm Electric Supply Corp. (Reading, Pa.): Lou Fromm has been appointed to the newly created position of residential construction manager. He previously served as Souderton, Pa., branch manager. He will coordinate sales and marketing activities for residential products and services at all of the company's branch locations, and will have corporate responsibility for the company's Reading, Pa., design center operations. Bill Smith has been appointed Souderton branch manager. His responsibilities will include overseeing all branch sales activities in the industrial and contractor markets and supervising branch staff. In addition, he will retain his duties in managing and marketing supply contracts for all of the company's branches. Ellen McCarthy has been appointed director of marketing and communications. She has more than nine years of experience in the electrical industry.
Robroy Industries (Verona, Pa.): David A. Marshall has been promoted to president and chief operating officer of the corporation. He was previously executive vice president. He succeeds Peter McIlroy II as president. McIlroy, chairman and CEO, served as president for the past 22 years.
Heyco Products Inc. (Toms River, N.J.): Victor Wittmann has been named vice president of marketing and sales. He will be responsible for implementing the company's strategy for marketing its products to OEM customers and distributors, interfacing with Heyco's product engineering and development functions and overseeing sales management and marketing communications. He was most recently vice president for marketing and sales of JJI's Quality Lighting subsidiary and the company's Metrolux division.
Quality Lighting, a division of JJI Lighting Group Inc. (Franklin Park, Ill.): David Holladay has rejoined the company. In his new position, he will serve as vice president, general manager. He succeeds Victor Wittmann who left the company to join Heyco. Holladay originally joined Quality Lighting in 1977. He left the company in 1998 to start his own independent lighting sales agency.
LEDtronics (Torrance, Calif.): Jeffrey Mizel has been named district sales manager for upstate New York, New York City, northern New Jersey, Florida and Puerto Rico. He has more than 32 years experience in the electronics industry.
Holophane (Newark, Ohio): Herb Seidell has been named vice president for the industrial, retail and education product group. He will be responsible for all aspects of marketing, product development, product positioning and pricing for the company's lighting products, including product management and marketing development. He most recently served as product line manager for Eaton/Cutler-Hammer.
Calmont Wire & Cable Inc. (Santa Ana, Calif.): Linda Cunningham has been appointed sales engineer for the southern California territory. She has experience in technical fields, such as the medical and computer industries.
Cooper Wiring Devices (Long Island City, N.Y.): Denis Chardac has been named manager, strategic accounts for key Cooper Wiring Devices electrical distributors and end-customer groups. Andree Chaisson has been appointed industrial product manager. She has industrial experience in chemicals, gases and distribution. The Cooper Wiring Devices and Cooper B-Line divisions have joined sales activities to service local electrical distributors and contractors in the Chicago area. Tim Twyford and Robert Behmer have been added to the joint sales team.
Ideal Industries Inc. (Sycamore, Ill.): Ned Camuti has been promoted to vice president/general manager, Wire Termination business unit. He was previously general manager for the unit. Camuti will focus on strategic planning, marketing and the financial aspects of the Ideal Wire Termination business unit. Camuti started his career with Ideal in 1992 as director of marketing and sales for Buchanan Construction Products Inc. He subsequently assumed the position of director of marketing for the electrical division.
Border States Electric Supply (Fargo, N.D.): Blake Sexton, Phoenix, has been named vice president of sales. Tammy Miller, executive vice president, has assumed general management responsibility for the Southwest region of Border States Electric, in addition to her other responsibilities. She will be relocating to Phoenix.
W.A.C. Lighting (Garden City, N.Y.): Richard Kurtz has been appointed to succeed Tony Wang as president. Wang will remain active in the business as he retains the titles of chairman and CEO. Kurtz, who previously served as vice president of operations since last spring, will oversee the day-to-day operations of the business.
Berk-Tek, a Nexans company (New Holland, Pa.): Beni Blell has been named optical fiber product business manager. Blell will manage the company's offering of fiber-optic LAN/WAN cables, like Adventum and GIGAlite. Blell brings 11 years of industry experience to his new position with management roles in engineering and product marketing. In addition, he has extensive experience in product development and in systems and applications engineering.
OBITUARIES
Allen Rudolph, a charter member of NEMRA and chairman of the association (1978-79), died Feb. 11. He was 71 years old. Rudolph founded the Boston-based Rudolph & Co. in 1955 and retired from the business in 1997. In addition to serving as NEMRA chairman, Rudolph also will be remembered for his contributions in co-founding the NEMRA Computer System, which is used to this day by reps and manufacturers. He continued for several years to serve in an advisory capacity to the NEMRA Computer system. Rudolph also won Electrical Wholesaling's GEM Award for independent manufacturers' reps. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Sylvia Sacks Rudolph; and children, Deborah and Robert Rogers, Mount Pleasant, S.C.; Helene Rudolph and Martin Slater of Needham, Mass.; and Greg Rudolph of Newton, Mass.; and seven grandchildren. Donations in Rudolph's memory may be made to Friends of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115. Condolences may be sent to The Rudolph Family, 75 Woodchester Drive, Newton, MA 02467
Stuart C. Irby, Jr., retired chairman and president of Irby Construction and Stuart C. Irby Co., an electrical distributorship based in Jackson, Miss., died Feb. 21. He was 79 years old. In 1955, Irby became president/chairman of Irby Construction Co. His father, Stuart Chalmers Irby, founded the business in 1926. Stuart M. Irby, Stuart C. Irby's eldest son, and current president of the family business, was quoted in Jackson's Clarion Ledger, saying, “Irby Construction Co. was Stuart C. Irby's baby. He built it from a small local power-line contractor to one of the larger power-line contractors in the world.” During his tenure, the company built power lines in 42 states and completed 12 international projects in Asia, Africa and Central America. Stuart C. Irby Co. has grown to 38 branches in nine states. Irby is survived by his wife Debbie West Irby, five children and 10 grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Covenant Presbyterian Church, 4000 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211; French Camp, One Fine Place, French Camp, MS 39745; Belhaven Church, 1500 Peachtree Street, Jackson, MS 39202.
John B. “Jack” Dwyer, former vice president of sales for Appleton Electric, died Jan. 11 in Oak Park, Ill. He was 75 years old. Dwyer began his career in the electrical industry with Ideal Industries in 1950. In 1959, he joined the Appleton Electric Co. as sales manager and later marketing manager for the company's Unilet division. From 1984 until his retirement in 1995, Dwyer was the vice president of sales. During his tenure, Appleton expanded its reach outside the domestic market by developing a separate international sales force and distributors. Always interested in the engineering aspects of the electrical industry, he was active in the IEEE-PCIC, most recently as chairman of the membership committee. He is survived by his wife, Dolores, seven children and 10 grandchildren.