People August 29, 2008

Aug. 29, 2008
Steve Kelley joined Cree Inc. as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Cree Inc. (Durham, N.C.): Steve Kelley joined the company as executive vice president and chief operating officer. In this newly created position, Kelley will be responsible for business development, global manufacturing, technology and administrative operations of the company. Kelley comes to Cree after five years at Texas Instruments, where he served as vice president and general manager of the Standard Linear and Logic Group. Prior to that, Kelley spent 10 years at Philips Semiconductors in various management positions.

Mayer Electric Supply Co. Inc. (Birmingham, Ala.): The company has announced some leadership changes following Jim Summerlin’s planned retirement at the end of 2009. Wes Smith will be Mayer’s president, succeeding Summerlin. Jim Summerlin will become vice chairman. Nancy Collat Goedecke will succeed Charles Collat Sr. as chairman, and Charles Collat Sr. will become chairman emeritus. Smith started as a temp working in Mayer’s Montgomery, Ala., branch 20 years ago. He became a part of Mayer’s internal audit staff and led Mayer’s work to become the first electrical distributor in the U.S. to receive ISO certification back in 1993. After that, as chief information officer, Smith led Mayer through the very trying period when their new ERP computer system was implemented 2000. With his recent experience as chief operating officer, he has worked closely with each of Mayer’s operating divisions. Jim Summerlin has been with for more than 30 years. Summerlin will help in transitioning the company for another 16 months.