Westinghouse Lighting (Philadelphia): Ron Saccomano has been promoted to vice president of sales, unifying all of the company's sales divisions under his leadership. Bringing more than 30 years of industry experience to the position, Saccomano most recently led Westinghouse's sales efforts in the Americas, Asia, and Europe as senior sales director. As vice president of sales, he will work with the company's sales and marketing executives to plan, direct and execute short- and long-term sales strategies across its lamp, lighting fixture, ceiling fan and decorative electrical accessory business units. During his career, Saccomano created a nationwide sales agency and was a vice president at Encon International.
Capital Lighting & Supply, a subsidiary of Sonepar-USA (CLS, Alexandria, Va.): Wayne Kramer has been promoted to branch manager for the Manassas, Va., location. Kramer began his CLS career in 2003 where he started as a temporary driver at the Fredericksburg location. He quickly was promoted into the warehouse and after spending a few months in that position was moved into counter sales. Kramer continued his stint at the counter for about a year and took on the role as branch operations manager. He has handled a dual role of inside sales and branch operations since March, 2005.
Columbia Electric Supply Inc. (Brockton, Mass.): Karen Falvey has been promoted to the new position of lighting specialist/business development representative. In this new role, Falvey, who formerly worked within the marketing division at Columbia Electric, will lead the company's energy efficient or “green” program, and develop advanced ballast and lamp sales within the Boston area and South Shore markets. She will also implement a recycling program that Columbia Electric, in partnership with Philips Lighting, will bring to customers as a value-added service. The program will educate customers on ways to take advantage of energy-efficient lighting technologies, reduce energy consumption and save money. Her new role signals an increased presence in the green market by Columbia Electric. Prior to joining Columbia Electric five years ago, Falvey was employed as a marketing representative with an electrical distributor in Boston.
Gerard Haviland has been named the company's systems administrator. In this role, Haviland oversees all computer and network support, including information technology and telecommunications. Haviland brings more than 25 years of experience in the computer industry to this position, and has been recognized for his expertise in enterprise-resource planning (ERP) systems.
What started as a part-time high school job in 1954 turned into a 54-year career for Bob Masefield, who recently was “roasted and toasted” by his colleagues at Columbia Electric Supply during a well-attended retirement party. During his career, Masefield's jobs ranged from part-time work as a teenager sweeping floors and putting stock away to promotions to counter sales, assistant purchasing agent and then purchasing agent. For the last 35 years at Columbia Electric, Masefield served as the company's purchasing agent. During his speech, Masefield made special mention of his former boss, Bob Palmer, who passed away about seven years ago.
Bridgeport Fittings Inc. (Stratford, Conn.): Wendy Pelkey has been named customer service manager. Pelkey will have responsibility for managing, directing and coaching customer service, including all aspects of order processing, problem resolution, and initial technical customer support. Pelkey previously worked for Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, The Siemon Co. and OZ-Gedney.
RAB Lighting (Northvale, N.J.): Jim Kellerhouse, senior vice president of sales, is retiring from the company. Kellerhouse has been with RAB for 18 years during a period of consistently sustained annual double-digit sales growth. Richard Barna, CEO of RAB, said Kellerhouse has done an awesome job building a world-class sales organization for RAB and leaves behind him a very capable team. In 2007, Kellerhouse received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Equity/EDN Buying Group. In the last five years, RAB has been the recipient of numerous marketing and sales awards from both Equity/EDN and Affiliated Distributors.
Ferraz-Shawmut (Newburyport, Mass.): Kent Walker has been promoted to vice president of technical sales and services. He will be responsible for leading his team in providing customer service and in developing new service offerings. Walker began working for the company in 1982, while a student at the Wentworth Institute of Technology. He has held several roles within the engineering and marketing departments since officially joining the company in 1987.
Jean Francois de Palma has been named director of development, responsible for management of the North America Research and Development division.
Jeff Williams has joined the company as a sales representative for the Georgia region. Williams has experience in sales, marketing and business management.
Russell Bernstein has been named product manager — Systems and Accessories. Bernstein will be responsible for systems such as elevator switches, fused coordination panels and enclosed switches. Bernstein will also manage Ferraz Shawmut's line of disconnect switches and power distribution blocks. Product line expansion will be a major focus. Bernstein worked at Ferraz Shawmut several years ago under the Gould Shawmut name.He has experience in product line and general management.
Piyush Saxena has been named product manager - Surge Protection. Saxena will be responsible for the company's surge protection product line expansions. Saxena has electrical industry experience in both program and product line management.
The company has named Natalie Timmons marketing specialist. Timmons will be responsible for marketing promotions, including developing product launch plans and lead-generation campaigns, and creating corporate collateral materials, sales tools and e-marketing programs.
Houston Wire & Cable Co. (Houston): Michael T. Campbell has been elected to the company's board of directors. He replaces Robert L. Hogan, who retired from the board at the company's annual shareholder meeting. Campbell is a member of the board of advisors of Lee Truck Equipment Inc. He performed project work as a financial and accounting consultant both individually and with Resources Connection from January 2003 to December 2005. He was an accounting and audit partner with Deloitte & Touche prior to his retirement in June 2001.
American Fluorescent (Waukegan, Ill.): Mark Kardon was recently appointed vice president - marketing. He is responsible for establishing strategic direction, new product initiatives, product profitability and marketing communications. Kardon has a marketing background covering business and consumer products, including the electrical industry.
Mark Groenke has joined the company as manager of product engineering. His team will lead the development of new lighting products while supporting current product lines. Groenke's product development experience includes consumer and commercial products in the lighting, automotive, food service and medical supply industries.
Gary Stabelfeldt, principle engineer, has assumed responsibility for commercial lighting and custom product R&D. His lighting expertise and knowledge will help the company evaluate new technologies and applications for continued growth.
Rep News
A.A. MacPherson Co. Inc., Canton, Mass., added John Ledbetter to its sales team. Ledbetter, a long-time electrical utility industry professional with various assignments that have included sales, sales management, meter engineering and operations, substation engineering, transmission and distribution engineering standards and distribution engineering, joined A.A. McPherson's Utility Products Division on April 21. He is a graduate of Northeastern University, Boston, with a B.S. in electrical engineering with technical concentration in power systems.
Engineered Products Company (EPCO, Minneapolis): EPCO presented its annual sales rep awards at the NEMRA meeting in February. The company said the following winners excelled in criteria such as sales growth, sales-to-budget, gross margin percent improvement, adding new customers, and participation in product promotions: Platinum ($2 million-plus sales volume) — Lee-Noonan Co., Minneapolis; Gold ($1 million-plus) — Perry & Associates, Omaha, Neb.; Silver ($750,000-plus) — Enhanced Electrical Sales, Houston; Lakeshore Electrical Sales, Milwaukee; and Emery Electrical Sales, Charlotte, N.C., and Bronze ($500,000-plus) — AERO Sales, Cleveland; and RC Colerick, Baltimore.