French Gerleman (St. Louis): Mike Stanfill has been appointed president, taking over for William French who will become CEO. Stanfill, previously V.P. of industrial and commercial sales, brings more than 24 years of experience in engineering, management and executive positions in manufacturing and wholesale distribution.
Stanfill earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois. Prior to being named president, he held a variety of positions in his 18-year tenure at French Gerleman including product management, Tech Center management and two divisional sales V.P. roles. Before coming to French Gerleman, Stanfill worked in engineering, R&D and product management at Unilever and Everest & Jennings. He currently serves as a member of Rockwell Automation's Horizontal Distributor Advisory Council, is a past director on the Electrical Board of Missouri and Illinois and has served on advisory councils for other electrical manufacturers.
In other news at French Gerleman, the company announced the promotion of Steve French to V.P. of operations; Adam Ruebsam to V.P. of commercial and industrial sales; and Mike Kelsch to V.P. of supply division; and the hiring of Jim Wojkovich as V.P. of construction sales. A fifth-generation family-owner, French began working full-time with the company in 2001 after earning a B.S. degree in business management from Samford University. Prior to being named V.P. of operations, he also held positions in catalog development and e-commerce management. As V.P. of commercial and industrial sales, Ruebsam will be responsible for automation and electrical supply division sales in St. Louis and Washington, Mo. He will also be responsible for Rockwell Automation initiatives in French Gerleman's Columbia, Mo., and Quincy, Ill., branches. Prior to being named to his new position, he served as director of business development supporting strategic initiatives around component OEMs, corporate accounts and clean energy. Before joining French Gerleman, Ruebsam spent nearly ten years with Rockwell Automation serving in various sales engineer roles in Omaha, Neb., and St. Louis. A 2000 graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia, he earned a B.S. degree in industrial engineering. Ruebsam has been active in St. Louis Clean Cities; served on the St. Louis Science Center's advisory committee for EVie, their electric truck with interactive energy exhibits; and is a frequent speaker on clean energy topics including electric vehicle charging stations.
Kelsch will focus his efforts as V.P. of supply division on growing electrical supply and safety sales in the St. Louis and Washington, Mo., markets. He also oversees the company's storeroom services program, governmental (GSA) program and the industrial lighting team. Prior to his promotion, he served French Gerleman as a division sales manager for nearly eight years. Wojkovich brings more than 30 years of electrical distribution experience to French Gerleman. As V.P. of construction sales, he will focus his team on growing sales to electrical contractors in the St. Louis and Washington, Mo., branches. He earned a B.S. degree in business and political science from Franklin College in 1979 and has received advanced training in ISO9000 and lean distribution. Wojkovich spent the last seven years serving as branch manager, area manager and general manager for a national electrical distributor in Florida.