Rexel Inc. (Dallas): Jeremy de Brabant, managing director of Rexel UK, will become senior vice president and CEO of Rexel Inc. beginning in mid-October. Dan Palumbo, presently in charge, will leave the Rexel Group. De Brabant will report directly to Dick Waterman and become a full member of the executive committee of Rexel Group. De Brabant, a Canadian and French national, master of engineering by education, has spent eight years with Rexel after joining in 1993. He began his career with Rexel as regional manager of the northeast region in France and then became general manager of a newly acquired company in the West region. After five years in Africa for CFAO where he was finally in charge of Nigerian operations, he came back in January 2004 as Rexel UK chief executive officer. He led a successful turnaround and profitable growth has been achieved since then.
Leviton Manufacturing Co. (Little Neck, N.Y.): Harold Leviton, Leviton’s CEO and chairman of the board, passed away earlier this month, leaving two of his sons-in-law to lead the company. Donald J. Hendler, who in 2005 was named president, will assume the additional title and role of CEO. Stephen B. Sokolow, who was named vice chairman of the board that same year, will succeed as chairman of the board. In a career spanning more than 37 years, Hendler has held key positions at Leviton. Before his appointment as president, he served as executive vice president, where he directed strategic planning, human resources and distribution initiatives, as well as sales, marketing and product development for Leviton North America and subsidiary, American Insulated Wire. He has also served on the Education Foundation for the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) and as a member of the government relations committee of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). In addition, he has served on the advisory committees of both IMARK and Affiliated Distributors. Sokolow began his career at Leviton in 1961, starting out as a summer intern and working his way up to facilities manager and numerous other positions before his appointment to executive vice president, where he directed the company’s manufacturing, engineering, distribution and information technology operations. Sokolow has served the industry as technical chairman of the Electronic Data Exchange Joint Committee of NAED, NEMA and NEMRA and was chairman of NEMA’s Wiring Device Section.
Leviton Voice & Data Division (Bothell, Wash.,): Brad Leland has been appointed vice president of sales for the Voice & Data Division. Leland will have overall sales management responsibility for the voice and data U.S. distribution sales team. Leland brings to Leviton an extensive sales management background with three decades in the communications, data and network industry. Most recently he was vice president of global channel sales at JDSU for their communications and test business group. For 19 years he served at Fluke and Fluke Networks in various sales, market development and marketing roles. Prior to Fluke, Leland worked for GTE Corp.
Ideal Industries Inc. (Sycamore, Ill.): Ken Nelson was appointed district sales manager, northwest district, responsible for field personnel and large regional accounts in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Montana. A veteran of Ideal for 13 years, Nelson was previously senior area sales manager in Washington. Nelson will report to regional sales manager Mark Brown.
Granite City Electric Supply Co. (Quincy, Mass.): Greg Smith has been promoted to vice president of corporate development. In 2002 Granite City Electric acquired Smith’s electrical distribution company, J.G. Temple Electric Supply Co., and brought Smith in to help facilitate Granite City Electric’s growth initiatives. Smith also manages Granite City Electric’s newly developed technology division. As vice president of corporate development, Smith will continue leading the technology division. He will also take on the following responsibilities: evaluating and driving new tactical business opportunities, including strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions; monitoring competitive activity; strategic investment avenues; long-range planning; as well as heading up the implementation process of corporate-wide strategic business initiatives.
Amerlux Lighting Solutions (Fairfield, N.J.): The company appointed two regional vice presidents. Dave Silverman was appointed Central regional vice president of sales and Rob Limroth was appointed Northeast regional vice president of sales. Both will report directly to Sam Newberry, vice president of sales for Amerlux. As central regional vice president of sales, Silverman will work with sales agencies, national accounts, architects, designers, engineers and specifiers in 15 states in the Midwestern region of the U.S., and up through eastern Canada. Silverman, who has been with Amerlux for five years, previously served as regional sales director. Prior to joining Amerlux, he was central regional sales manager for Forum Lighting and Genlyte. He also held the position of area sales manager for Juno Lighting. Limroth is responsible for working with commercial sales agents, national accounts and end-users throughout eastern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and upstate New York. Limroth has 17 years of lighting industry experience. He was previously Northeast regional sales director and director of national accounts for Amerlux; northeastern national accounts director for Lithonia Lighting Group/Acuity Lighting; national accounts manager Mid-Atlantic region for Lightolier; and district sales manager for Juno Lighting.
Griffith Electric Supply (Trenton, N.J.): Ron Lim was recently promoted to vice president, sales and marketing, for the 70-year-old firm. For the past two years, Lim has served the company as the director of sales. Previous to his tenure at Griffith Electric, he worked in various capacities for both Crescent-Stonco and Thomas & Betts Corp.
Eoff Electric (Portland): Michele Cook has joined the Eoff Electric Supply Project Management team. Cook has been in the electrical industry since 1987, with the last 14 years managing and quoting large commercial projects in the Portland metro area. Cook’s commitment to serving the contractor has developed a strong reputation in the market.