GE Lighting Solutions to bid for LED lighting job in hometown
An article in Cleveland's The Plain Dealer said GE Lighting Solutions, East Cleveland, Ohio, has put together a new bid for the city's contract for LED lighting. The Plain Dealer article said Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson wants a lighting company to build a factory and research lab in Cleveland and create 350 jobs in exchange for the right to sell the city LEDs.
As reported on EM's LiveWire in May, the city had awarded a controversial no-bid contract to Sunpu-Opto Semiconductor Ltd. to provide LED street lighting, but the Chinese company eventually backed out of that deal. GE Lighting opposed that contract from the start and has been campaigning to submit a new bid. LEDs are a major focus at GE Lighting, which is spending 66 percent of its R&D dollars on LED lighting.
Schaedler Yesco to open three branches in Pennsylvania
Schaedler Yesco Distribution Inc. (SYD), Harrisburg, Pa., plans to open three locations in northeast Pennsylvania, including branches in Towanda and Wilkes-Barre, in January 2011. A Scranton store is expected to open closer to mid-year. These locations will complement existing locations in Williamsport and the Pocono Mountains and will help establish SYD as a key distributor in northeast Pennsylvania. The company already has locations in Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, Lebanon, Chambersburg, Williamsport, State College, Pocono Mountains, New Oxford, Gettysburg, St. Marys, Indiana, New Kensington and Pittsburgh.
Klein Tools acquires 50% stakein UEi Test Instruments
Klein Tools, Inc., Lincolnshire, Ill., acquired a 50 percent equity position in UEi Test Instruments, Beaverton, Ore., to cement the existing partnership between the two companies. The companies have been working together since 2008. Founded in Beaverton in 1967, UEi manufactures environmental test equipment for the HVAC/R (heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration) market. Klein Tools will begin to market the line of electrical test and measurement products to select HVAC/R customers in January 2011.
NEMA forms EVSE group
Responding to the surge of investment in infrastructure to charge the batteries of electric vehicles, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has formed the Electrical Vehicle Supply Equipment/Systems Section (EVSES). The group will “represent manufacturers of products or assemblies that are installed for the purpose of safely delivering and managing electrical energy between an electric vehicle and an electrical source,” the association said.
EVSES is only the second new section NEMA has formed in the past decade.
“This NEMA section will drive the cohesive efforts of the products and services involved with the electric vehicle supply system,” said Michael Mahan, EVSES Section Chair and GE Global Product Manager. “It will facilitate standardization and communicate the role EVSE plays in the electric vehicle infrastructure.”
Grainger may divest pieceof Specialty Brands Business
W.W. Grainger Inc., Lake Forest, Ill., may divest parts of its Specialty Brands portfolio, including Construction Book Express, which sells books for electricians, general contractors, HVAC professionals architects and engineers. The company has already sold substantially all of the assets of another piece of that business, library supplies provider Highsmith, to DEMCO, Inc., the leading provider of solutions to America's libraries and schools. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As part of a strategic review of the Specialty Brands portfolio, Grainger is also assessing the possible divestiture of four additional brands, including: Professional Equipment (serving inspection and construction-related trade professionals); McFeely's (serving the professional woodworking market); and Rand (serving material handling needs). Altogether, these four brands and Highsmith represent approximately one percent of total Grainger revenue.