Bridgeport Fittings (Stratford, Conn.): David Turk was promoted to senior V.P., sales and marketing, and Jay Pearson is now V.P. of sales, effective July 1. The promotions were announced by Paul Suzio, Bridgeport’s president and COO. Turk will manage all aspects of Bridgeport’s sales, marketing and technical sales functions, while Jay Pearson will drive Bridgeport’s sales and marketing strategy and initiatives. David Turk joined Bridgeport Fittings in 2005, and most recently was V.P., sales and marketing. Pearson was previously region V.P. and is now in his 12th year of service at Bridgeport.
Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, N.D.): Don Masters, formerly Shealy Electrical Wholesalers’ senior V.P. – Installer Market, is now V.P. of BSE’s Southeast Region. The Southeast Region is made up of BSE’s 17 recently acquired Shealy branches in North and South Carolina.
CenterStar Energy Services (Voorhees, N.J.): This national solar construction and installation firm has appointed Kathy Rusko as CEO and a member of its board of directors. Rusko was most recently senior V.P. for Sonepar North America and held various senior financial roles with the company over the past 17 years. Prior to her tenure with Sonepar, Rusko served in various positions of increasing responsibility in finance, operational excellence and strategic planning for GE.
CenterStar Energy Services provides a wide array of services and solutions ranging from low- and medium-voltage electrical work and mechanical installations, to a complete balance of system installs tailored to meet the needs of commercial clients.
Appleton Group (Rosemont, Ill.): Frank Geib has joined the SolaHD salesforce as manager for its East Central Region, and Jim Wagner was promoted to region manager for the SolaHD’s West Central Region. Wagner previously served as account manager in the same region. Geib comes to SolaHD from Thomas & Betts Corp., where he held management roles in sales and customer support during his 21-year tenure. Both Geib and Wagner will report to Tom Pankratz, vice president of sales for SolaHD.
Harvard Technology (San Diego): Three new members have joined the staff of Harvard Technology Americas. Brock Bridges was named account executive to cover the Southeast region of the U.S. Isaac Salinas Martínez was named account executive for Mexico and Central America and Shane Foster has joined the company as sales intern.
Bridges, a graduate from the University of Alabama, was previously with Vonage Business, where he was Cloud Solutions sales executive. Martinez brings over four years’ experience in the lighting industry, having worked with Lamp Lighting and Ornalux — both European lighting brands with established operations in Mexico. He graduated from University in Mexico City in 2012 and holds a degree in industrial management. In his role, Martinez will be focused on developing and growing the business relationships with Harvard Technology’s distributors in Mexico and Central America, Havells Mexico and Feilo Sylvania in Costa Rica. Foster is a recent graduate in business entrepreneurship and finance from San Diego State University.
W.W. Grainger (Lincolnshire, Ill.): The board of directors at W.W. Grainger, Lincolnshire, Ill., approved Jim Ryan’s nomination of DG Macpherson to succeed him as chief executive officer of the industrial MRO distribution powerhouse. Macpherson is currently chief operating officer and will become CEO and a member of the board effective Oct. 1.
Macpherson’s move into the CEO role is the penultimate step in the multi-year succession process and will conclude with Macpherson taking on the chairman role upon Ryan’s retirement. Macpherson’s appointment as COO in 2015 was part of the company’s succession process, so no replacement COO will be named. Macpherson joined Grainger in 2008 after working closely with Grainger for six years as a partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group, where he was a member of the Industrial Goods Leadership Team.
Van Meter Industrial (Cedar Rapids, Iowa): Stacie Osako, human resources manager, was recently named a 2016 Game Changer by Workforce magazine, which selects 25 HR professionals under the age of 40 for this recognition. These top 25 performers will be featured in the magazine’s August issue. Among the changes Osako has driven at Van Meter are a personal accountability plan that empowers employees to recharge and refocus themselves and a one-time, month-long employee sabbatical program for workers who have been with the company at least 20 years.