Richard Reffler has been named vice president of Turtle & Hughes, Inc., Linden, N.J., and manager of the company's Bridgewater and Plainfield, N.J., branches. He joined the firm in 1997 as manager of the Plainfield branch, overseeing the renovation of the facility that was formerly the Schlecter Industrial Division of Turtle & Hughes. The Bridgewater location is one of the company's integrated supply operations.
Reffler was previously an officer and part owner of Northern Electric Supply Co., South Plainfield., N.J., which has since been acquired by GE Supply.
Brett D. Blanke has been named national sales manager, data communication products, at AFC Cable Systems, Inc., New Bedford, Mass. He was most recently regional data communications sales manager for WESCO. Prior to that position he was regional sales manager at Helix/HiTemp and Chromatic Technologies, a manufacturer of copper and fiber optic data cables.
Steve Barker has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing at Cummins Utility Supply, Fort Worth, Texas. He will also oversee construction and industrial operations. He was most recently vice president of marketing for Rexel, Inc., Coral Gables, Fla.
Stephen Gunnells has been appointed southern regional manager for Cincinnati, Ohio-based ILSCO and UTILCO. Previously, he was with the EverReady Battery division of Ralston Purina.
Chris Newport has been named vice president of operations for Eagle Electric Co., Inc., Norwood, Mass. He was previously a sales manager at Boston Edison and held various positions at GE Supply.
At Fiberstars, Inc., Fremont, Calif., Fred Martin was named chief operating officer. He joined Fiberstars in 1997 as senior vice president of the R&D, Engineering and Commercial Lighting groups. Previously, he was president of Prescolite and Progress Lighting. Simon Chen was named vice president, Engineering. Chris Bragg was named director, Advanced Products.
At Osram Sylvania, Danvers, Mass., Joseph F. McCormick has been named applications manager for the company's Electronic Control Systems business. He succeeds Richard Rattray, who was recently named product marketing manager for compact fluorescent lighting at the company. McCormick was most recently product and account manager for the electronic ballast business at Philips Lighting Electronics Co., Rosemont, Ill. Robert E. Hojnacke has been named corporate accounts manager for the Industrial & Commercial Lighting channel within the company's General Lighting business. He was previously Western regional manager.
John Major, a member of the English Parliament and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has been appointed chairman of a European Advisory Council at Emerson Electric Co., St. Louis, Mo. The council was formed to assist Emerson on issues relating to the company's European business and the changing European business environment. Other members of the council include Antonio Borges, dean of INSEAD, a European business school located in France; and Sir Robert Horton, chairman of Railtrack Group PLC and a director of Emerson.
Richard Magee has been named product manager for cord products and bare copper at Southwire Co., Carrollton, Ga. He previously held sales and management positions with Ramco Industries, MidAmerican Electro Cords, and Coleman Cable.
Mark Blechner has been named product manager, Specification Decorative Lighting, at Lightolier, Fall River, Mass. His management experience includes positions with Universal Fixture Manufacturing, Quincy, Mass., and L.D. Kichler/Hartford Prospect Lighting, Cleveland, Ohio.
C. William McDowell has been named director of sales for Virginia Transformer Corp., Roanoke, Va. He previously held sales and marketing management positions with Square D Co., Valmont Electric and Anamet Electrical.
At Reliable Power Meters, Inc., Los Gatos, Calif., Trevor Serebro has been promoted to strategic business development manager. He most recently was international sales manager for Canada, Latin America and Asia. Rolf Stroessner has been appointed international sales manager and will be responsible for direct sales and management of distributors in Canada, Latin America and Asia.
At Superior Telecom, New York, N.Y., Gregory R. Schriefer has been appointed executive vice president. He was also named president of the newly formed Industrial Products Group. Schriefer was executive vice president of Essex International. Justin F. Deedy, president of Superior's Communications Group, has been named executive vice president. Concurrently, Steven Abbott, recently appointed president and chief operating officer of Superior TeleCom, has resigned. Abbott was president and chief executive officer of Essex, in which Superior Telecom recently acquired an 81% stake. Abbott will continue to serve as a consultant as the merger of Essex and Superior moves forward.
At Super Vision International, Inc., Orlando, Fla., Earl Moore, Jr. has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing. He was vice president of sales and marketing for W.F. Harris Lighting in Monroe, N.C. Cheryl Oreal Meyne has been named director of architectural lighting. She will be responsible for the Cooper Lighting/Super Vision partnership, providing sales support, new product development support and training for all Cooper Lighting sales teams, lighting agencies, distributors and electrical contractors in the United States and Canada.
Donald Walcott has been appointed Western region sales manager for Hoffman, Anoka, Minn. He will be responsible for establishing a Western region sales office in Los Angeles. He was previously a regional sales manager for the Daniel Woodhead Co.
The board of directors at Juno Lighting, Inc., Des Plaines, Ill., have selected Glenn Bordfeld as the company's president and chief operating officer. Joel W. Chemers has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president of corporate planning. He joined the company as director of corporate planning in October 1997.
At Regent Lighting Corp., Burlington, N.C., David Springstroh, formerly the director of sales and marketing, has been named vice president of marketing. Angela Roberts, formerly a sales and marketing analyst, has been promoted to sales support manager. Gene Black, formerly a sales manager, has beenpromoted to director of sales for the Commercial & Industrial division, NCI Products. Dave Thomas, formerly vice president of engineering, has been named vice president of technology and product development. Wai Shing Ko has been named vice president of engineering. For the previous 10 years he was head of the engineering department at The Heath Co., (Heath Zenith).
James Holdsworth has been added to the Southeast sales force at Clifford of Vermont, Bethel, Vt. He most recently was manager of national accounts for Rome Cable Corp., Rome, N.Y.
At Noland Co., Newport News, Va., four regional managers have been appointed. Mark A. Smith, previously director of sales and marketing for industrial/electrical, will head the Mid-Atlantic region. David E. Allen, previously manager of the company's Greenville, N.C., branches, will manage the Southeast region. H.E. Rhodes, Jr. will oversee branches in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and the Florida panhandle. Arthur Brown will manage branches in Florida, Georgia and those in Texas.
At the Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., Thomas Wojtusik was appointed director of marketing. He previously was distribution marketing manager, business process architect and team leader at IBM Microelectronics. Rick Cobello has been named operations director.
Ron Lazarus, has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing at University Security Instruments, Inc., Owings Mills, Md. He was most recently vice president of sales for Maple Chase.
At Graybar Electric Co., St. Louis, Mo., the following Forida branch managers were appointed: Bruce E. Neilson for Tallahassee; Anthony R. Hall for Daytona Beach; Mark F. Thomas for Fort Pierce. Richard C. Kelly was appointed branch manager for Springfield, Ill. Richard Harvey was appointed manager, communications and data sales in St. Louis, Mo.