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Dec. 1, 2009
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), (Rossyln, Va.): The following industry executives were elected to the NEMA board of governors during

National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), (Rossyln, Va.): The following industry executives were elected to the NEMA board of governors during its recent annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz.: Daryl Dulaney, Siemens Industry; Thomas Gross, Eaton Corp.; Michael Reitermann, Siemens Healthcare; Brent Shafer, Philips North America; and Malcolm Unsworth, Itron, Inc.

Ideal Industries Inc. (Sycamore, Ill.): Jason Butchko is now general manager of Ideal's Networks Division, succeeding Jouke Rijpstra who will retire in 2010. In this position Butchko will be responsible for managing the performance and strategic direction of the network and electrical testing business units, along with the company's broad line of data communications products that include installation tools and connection supplies. Reporting to Jim James, Ideal president and CEO, Butchko will be based in San Diego, the headquarters for the network testing business unit. He has more than 20 years of senior executive experience, most recently as V.P. of business development for Westco Scientific Instruments Inc., Brookfield, Conn. Butchko earned an MBA from the University of Colorado, a M.S. in environmental science and engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, and a B.S in civil engineering from the United States Air Force Academy.

Bulbrite Inc. (Moonachie, N.J.): Cathy Choi is now president and Andrew Choi, the former president, was appointed chairman. Ms. Choi previously served as vice president and Mr. Choi was the company's founder, president and CEO for the past 38 years. Prior to joining Bulbrite, Choi was a director of finance and operations for Independent Pictures, a division of New Line Cinema, and an auditor for Price Waterhouse. She is an American Lighting Association (ALA)-certified Lighting Specialist, a member of the Education Foundation and Manufacturers Steering Committee for the ALA, a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), and is active with Cornell University alumni associations. She has a MBA from New York University and a B.A. from Cornell University.

Bridgeport Fittings (Stratford, Conn.): Jay Pearson was promoted to the newly created position of region vice president. Pearson will be the key sales executive directing all activities within the newly outlined sales territory, and will be responsible for developing and implementing regional business plans to include an overall growth strategy, annual sales plan and budget. Among his other duties, he will be responsible for maintaining and cultivating key customer relationships and implementing company sales strategies for expanding the company's revenue stream. Pearson has 21 years of electrical experience, including senior management responsibilities at O-Z/Gedney and Rexel.

Atlanta Light Bulbs, Inc. (Tucker, Ga.): Jason Lunsford was promoted to local sales manager. Before joining the company in 2007 as an inside salesperson and in counter sales, he worked as a driver, counter salesperson and warehouse manager for McNaughton-McKay and as a counter manager for Newton Electric Supply.

LEDnovation (Tampa, Fla.): Bill Blackley has joined the company as V.P. of business development. He has 20 years of lighting experience and most recently was with Nexxus Lighting, where he was vice president. He has also held senior management posts at Vossloh-Schwabe (Matsushita Electric) and Acuity Brands Lighting (Holophane).

Kirby Risk Electrical Supply (Lafayette, Ind.): Frank Gardner, formerly with Siemens and Rockwell Automation, has joined the company as vice president of industrial sales and Kyle Krizan, who has been with Kirby Risk since 2004, is now vice president of marketing and contractor sales. Gardner was regional manager, Northeast region, for Siemens Energy & Automation based out of the company's Boston offices, and before that spent 24 years with Rockwell Automation. He'll now be responsible for developing sales strategy for Kirby Risk's industrial and automation sales force as well as the sales efforts of Kirby Risk Mechanical Solutions and Service. Krizan began with the company as area sales manager for central and northern Illinois and most recently was director of contractor sales. He'll be developing and implementing sales strategies in the contractor market as well as overseeing the marketing organization for the industrial and contractor markets.

USESI Inc. (Exton, Pa.): Carl Brand is now V.P. of vendor relations and will retain his current responsibilities as the president of Electrical Wholesalers and Standard Electric Supply of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. He has more than 30 years of industry experience and an expertise in central distribution center (CDC) operations and procurement.

In other news at USESI, Randy Moore has been promoted from head of vendor relations to president of Electrical Wholesalers of Florida and Steve Valcourt was been appointed vice president, procurement, for USESI Region 1 (Northern New England) and Region 2 (Southern New England). He is focusing on the efficient and effective operations of the procurement functions for Electrical Wholesalers, Standard Electric Supply and Hampden Zimmerman in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut. Based out of Stoughton, Mass., he reports to a USESI executive committee comprised of Carl Brand, Ted Dlugolecki, John Reznick, Mark Lauria and Richard Worthy.

Shermco Industries (Dallas): The company has promoted Marc Burns to account manager. A graduate of Texas A&M University and Texas State Technical College, Burns has been with Shermco Industries for the past three years. In the new position, he will be responsible for business development with electrical contractors and consulting engineering groups.

Ruud Lighting Inc. (Racine, Wis.): Christopher Ruud was promoted to president, a role that his father, Alan Ruud, held since founding the company in 1982. As president, Christopher will oversee all U.S.-based business units and operations. Alan will retain his role as chairman and CEO. Christopher began working for Ruud Lighting in 1986, holding positions of increasing responsibility from sweeping floors to manufacturing assembly and eventually moving into administrative roles. He worked for Ruud Lighting as a programmer while attending college. He later worked as a network and telecommunications specialist at EFTC Corp., Greeley, Colo. Christopher returned to Ruud Lighting and in 1997 was promoted to manager of continuous improvement, followed by a promotion to vice president two years later, adding human resources to his list of responsibilities. In 2004, Christopher was named executive vice president and assumed responsibility for national accounts, sales and marketing. The company is currently preparing for a transition from traditional lighting to the new LED platform that is growing in demand. Christopher was instrumental in building the infrastructure for the launch of BetaLED in 2007.

Allied Wire & Cable (Collegeville, Pa.): Lori Paczewski and Kim Morrison are the company's newest sales representatives. Paczewski is in the Collegeville, Pa., headquarters location. She graduated in 2006 from Shippensburg University with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and began working in sales soon after, as a sales representative at Nutrisystem, Inc. Morrison joined the Merrimack, N.H., branch location. She earned a Bachelor's degree in English from Clark University in 1998.