Graybar Electric (St. Louis): Kathleen Mazzarella has been named president, effective June 1, 2012. Mazzarella currently serves as executive V.P. and COO, a position she has held for the past year. In her new role, she will continue to set the strategic direction for Graybar's sales and marketing function, while overseeing the day-to-day operations of the overall business. Also on June 1, Graybar's chairman, president and CEO, Robert Reynolds, Jr., will become executive chairman. He will remain actively involved in the company as the lead executive, overseeing the company's strategy and providing guidance to the executive team.
Graybar also announced that Peter Horncastle will become executive V.P. and general manager, assuming leadership of Graybar Canada when that group's president and CEO Frank Hughes retires on Jan. 5. Hughes started his career with Harris & Roome Supply in 1972, holding positions in sales, branch management and electronics and operations management. He acquired an ownership stake in the company and stayed with the organization after it was purchased by Graybar. Horncastle has been with Graybar Canada since 1989, starting his career in the warehouse. He has since garnered a variety of experience, serving in counter and sales positions and as branch manager, sales and marketing manager and regional V.P.
Galvan Electrical Products (Harrisburg, N.C.): Jeff Walker has been appointed national sales manager. He comes to Galvan with 28 years of industry experience. Walker graduated with a B.A. in business administration from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, N.D.): Pat Nolte was promoted to South Central Region operations manager and Mark Christopher is now branch manager for the company's Grand Forks, N.D., location. Nolte joined BSE in 2001 as a customer financial services administrator. He has also worked as a senior accountant, branch operations manager, and most recently as part of BSE's Supply Chain Services team focusing on project management and selling and implementing technical services. Nolte lives in West Fargo, N.D., and will relocate to Lubbock, Texas, this month. The company's South Central Region consists of 16 branch locations in Texas and New Mexico.
Christopher joined BSE in Feb. 2011 as a quotations representative. He has 20 years of experience in the electrical industry, and currently holds licenses as a master electrician in North Dakota and Minnesota. Before joining BSE, he worked as an electrical contractor, systems integrator, and recently managed his own electrical contracting firm in the Grand Forks area.
Ideal Industries (Sycamore, Ill.): Richard Jones has been hired as director of sales and marketing, Networks U.S., for the company's Networks & Test business unit and will report to Jason Butchko, V.P. and general manager of that division. He starts immediately and will be based at Ideal's Networks & Test headquarters in San Diego. Most recently, Jones headed up Datacom Standards Consulting, and prior to that he spent 18 years at Chatsworth Products Inc. (CPI), a global manufacturer providing voice, data, security products and services that optimize, store, and secure technology equipment. He earned an MBA from California Lutheran University and a B.S. in engineering from California State University Northridge.
Halco Lighting Technologies (Norcross, Ga.): Jill Mungovan has joined the company as marketing director. She has more than 12 years of lighting industry experience, including eight years managing marketing departments in the commercial/industrial sector. Prior to joining Halco, Mungovan held several positions with Cooper Industries, most recently as marketing director for Cooper Wiring Devices & Cooper Interconnect. She has also served as marketing manager for Simkar Corp. in Pennsylvania.
Siemens Government Technologies Inc. (Arlington, Va.): The company has appointed three new board members: Stanley McChrystal will serve as chairman of the board. McChrystal, a retired four-star general in the United States Army, is former commander of the U.S. and International Security Assistance Forces Afghanistan. Also appointed to the board are former U.S. Army lieutenant general John Sylvester and retired Lockheed Martin and General Electric executive Robert Coutts. Siemens Government Technologies pursues federal business in the areas of modernizing infrastructure and transportation systems, clean energy and improving energy efficiency, and implementing health-care solutions.
Houston Wire & Cable Co. (HWCC) (Houston): James Pokluda III the company's current president, has been named to the additional position of CEO in line with a succession plan announced earlier this year. Pokluda also takes a seat on the company's board of directors, effective Jan. 1. Pokluda will replace Charles Sorrentino, the company's current CEO, who will resign from the board and retire as CEO at year-end. HWCC also announced that its board named William Sheffield its new chairman, effective this month. Sheffield will assume the chairman role from Scott Thompson, who will remain on the board.
Universal Lighting Technologies (Nashville, Tenn.): Jeffrey Bristol is now V.P. of OEM sales. He has more than 17 years of sales experience in the lighting industry, most recently as senior director of sales (North America) for Westinghouse Lighting. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Brockport.
Magnetek Inc. (Menonomee Falls, Wis.): Bob Peddycoart has joined the company as business development manager of radio controls, and Mark Sullivan is now a regional business development manager for Magnetek's material handling business and will represent Magnetek's material handling products in southeastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and western New York. Peddycoart has more than 15 years of sales experience in the mobile hydraulic market. He has a B.A. in psychology from Hamline University. Sullivan joins Magnetek with nearly 25 years of experience in the overhead crane industry. He earned his B.A. in business administration and economics from Geneva College.
United Electric Supply Co., (New Castle, Del.): Gene Bruni has retired after 39 years with the company. During his tenure with United Electric Supply, a company press release said Bruni was one of the distributorship's most successful outside salesmen, rising to V.P. of sales, senior V.P. of sales and marketing, and finally president of the company. He also served on the United Electric board of directors from 1996 through 2011. During his tenure with the company, United Electric Supply grew from 35 employees, one location and $3 million in sales to 300 employees, 15 locations and $185 million in sales.
Channel Vision (Costa Mesa, Calif.): Adam Levin is now Southeast regional account executive and will be responsible for building new and existing accounts in the Southeast region, including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. Levin was part of the R&D team of a leading solar energy company in the Bay Area. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University where he majored in entrepreneurship and business management. Channel Vision is a manufacturer of low-voltage products such as structured wiring systems, intercoms and security systems for residential and commercial applications.
Lunera Lighting Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.): Doug Hickey has been appointed executive chairman of the board and Michael Keddington is now CEO. Hickey has more than 20 years of operational experience holding senior-level positions in the telecom, Internet and technology space. Keddington has more than 20 years of revenue, profit, organization and brand building experience for companies such as Intel, Sanmina-SCI, Oracle and Symantec.