People July 11, 2008

July 10, 2008
Joe Nitiss has been appointed president of the Chloride Group’s North American operations.

Chloride Group PLC (Libertyville, Ill.): Joe Nitiss has been appointed president of the company’s Chloride North American operations. As president, Nitiss will have responsibility for the strategic planning, oversight and growth of Chloride services and products in the $2.2 billion North American power quality market. Nitiss joins Chloride from Honeywell where he served as general manager of Honeywell Cable Products, a manufacturer of low-voltage cable and wire. Prior to this, he held marketing and sales roles of increasing responsibilities within Emerson Electric.

Summit Electric Supply (Albuquerque): Industry veteran Scott Long has been promoted to service center leader in Orlando. Long graduated from Florida State University in 1990 with an accounting degree and joined Bray, Beck and Cutter, an East Coast public accounting firm. He moved into electrical distribution in 1993 and has worked exclusively in the Orlando market since then. He joined Summit in March 2007 as an account manager. Todd French and Maurice Novak have joined Summit’s La Porte and Houston service centers, respectively. French’s experience includes sales for Crouse Hinds, Okonite and, most recently, Rockbestos-Surprenant Cable Corp. Novak comes to Summit from J.D. Martin Co. Previously, he was in direct sales for Thomas & Betts Corp. French will target engineering and construction clients. Novak will focus on original equipment manufacturers and maintenance, repair and operations clients.

Venture Lighting Canada (Streetsboro, Ohio): Greg Guisso has recently been named national sales manager for Venture Lighting International’s Canadian sales office. Guisso brings more than 18 years of electrical and lighting sales experience, selling to industrial, commercial and institutional end-users. He has had extensive experience managing distributor relationships throughout his career. In this new position, Guisso is responsible for the reintroduction and management of the Venture Lighting Canada distribution sales channel under Ballastronix and Venture HID ballast and lamp brands. Further responsibilities will include sales and marketing activities related to this distribution channel, including forecasting, pricing, project quotation and sales force training.

Generation Brands (Cary, N.C.): Jeffrey Tartamella was appointed president of the Sea Gull Lighting Products business unit, overseeing the Sea Gull Lighting and Monte Carlo Fan Company brands. Most recently, Tartamella was president of Home Decor Innovations, a $160 million business owned by a private-equity firm until it was sold to a strategic acquirer in late 2007. Prior to that role, Tartamella spent six years at Stanley Works in increasingly senior roles in product management, marketing, and sales, culminating as president — Home Decor Division. Previous to Stanley, Tartamella spent 13 years at Black & Decker Corp. Tartamella started his career at Eaton Corp.

Border States (Fargo, N.D.): Mike Blanchard has been named Southwest Region sales manager for Border States (BSE). Blanchard will lead the contractor, industrial and automation sales staff in the company’s Southwest Region which comprises Arizona and portions of New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico. He joined Border States one year ago as the Arizona sales manager. Previous, he was the senior vice president for B&K Electric Wholesale.

Schaedler Yesco (Harrisburg, Pa.): The company has appointed Tammy Leber marketing manager and Tom G. Schaedler Information Technologies (IT) manager. Leber will oversee the company’s marketing strategy. She joined Schaedler Yesco in 2006. Schaedler will oversee the company’s IT, including its business management software, Eclipse. Previously, Schaedler was software product specialist for Schaedler Yesco when he joined the company in December 1999.

Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Little Neck, N.Y.): Mike Mattei has been appointed vice president and general manager for the company’s Commercial and Industrial business. He is responsible for building sales of the company’s commercial and industrial wiring devices and systems across its electrical distribution, retail and end-user market channels. Mattei joined Leviton in 2004 as director of Fiber Optic Systems, when Leviton acquired and integrated his company, Fiber Management Solutions, into its Network Solutions business. Prior to starting his own company, Mattei worked for Tyco Electronics as senior vice president of its Ditel Division.

A.O. Smith Electrical Products Co. (Tipp City, Ohio): The company has appointed general managers to oversee each of its Strategic Business Units (SBUs). Named as general managers were: Douglas A. Johnson, general manager of North American Sales and the General Industries SBU, and James B. Mosman, general manager of the Distribution SBU. Johnson joined A.O. Smith in 2006. Before joining A.O. Smith, he worked as director of sales for Fasco Electrical Motors, St. Louis. Mosman has served as the global marketing manager for the Distribution and General Industries SBU since 2006. The company also named Richard Zajchowski as vice president-global supply chain. Zajchowski will have responsibility for developing global supply chain strategies as well as overseeing all purchasing, vendor certification, logistics and warehousing activities.

Maurice Electrical Supply (Washington, D.C.): Tom Burgess has joined the sales department. He will be working in the inside sales department. Burgess has worked in the Washington, D.C., market since the 1970s, beginning at Branch Electric.