People: March 26, 2010

HD Supply (Atlanta):John Stegeman, former president and CEO of Ferguson Enterprises, Newport News, Va., was hired as executive V.P. to lead the company’s North American business units. A division of Wolseley, Ferguson is the largest plumbing distributor in North America.

EMCOR (Norwalk, Conn.): The company’s Government Services unit, which provides mechanical, structural, HVAC, plumbing and other engineering services for federal facilities, announced several senior appointments. Michael Shelton has been appointed chairman, EMCOR Government Services (EGS); Joseph Gleeson has been appointed EGS president; and Michael Rodgers has been appointed senior V.P. of operations, EMCOR Government Services.

WAC Lighting (Garden City, N.Y.):James McMahan has been appointed general manager and V.P. For the past 21 years McMahan worked for Schonbek Lighting Worldwide at several executive positions, including CFO, director of sales and marketing and director of marketing communications. McMahan has also worked for Procter & Gamble, Mead Corp. and Pitney & Bowes. He has a B.S. in marketing and a M.B.A. in finance from the University of South Carolina.

Graybar (St. Louis):Rob Bezjak was appointed vice president, government sales, and Bill Mansfield was promoted to V.P., industrial market. Bezjak has more than 22 years of experience at Graybar, and has been instrumental in the development and implementation of Graybar’s government strategy. Mansfield has been with Graybar for more than 22 years, and has served in several management roles at the corporate, regional and branch levels, most recently as director of comm/data sales for the company’s St. Louis region. His background includes experience in automation, industrial networking, intelligent building design and energy management. He has a B.A. from Saint Louis University and a MBA from the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

Vetus Partners (Cleveland):John Skelly has joined the investment bank Vetus Partners as a managing director. He previously focused on the wholesale distribution sector of PCE Investment Bankers. His other distribution industry experience includes serving as a director of business development for Home Depot and director of mergers and acquisitions for Hughes Supply Inc.

Skelly has worked on M&As for W.W. Grainger, HD Supply, Hughes Supply and other distributors. Some of his recent distribution transactions include representing W.W. Grainger in its acquisition of Imperial Supplies from American Capital, and representing Thomas Pipe & Supply Co. in its sale to Gen Cap America. He also served as a member of the Distribution Investment Banking team at Robert W. Baird & Co. Skelly has executed transactions in the wholesale distribution sector with over $5 billion of total enterprise value.

Fromm Electric Supply (Reading, Pa.): John Plotts has joined Fromm Electric Supply as manager of the company’s Bloomsburg, Pa., location, scheduled to open in late spring. In addition to his branch management responsibilities, Plotts will also spearhead Fromm’s expansion efforts in north-central Pennsylvania. He is a 28-year veteran of the electrical distribution industry, with experience in all facets of the business. He is a graduate of the Warrior Run High School Vo-Tech program for Electrical Construction in Watsontown, Pa.

Warshauer Electric Supply (Tinton Falls, N.J.):Ryan Desharnais has joined the Warshauer Energy Solutions sales team in New Brunswick, N.J., as an inside sales engineer. He was with Sunelco Inc., where he spent time designing, installing and troubleshooting grid-tied and stand-alone solar and wind systems. Desharnais has a B.S. in chemical engineering and a minor in industrial engineering from Northeastern University.

Ideal Industries (Sycamore, Ill.):David DiDonato has been promoted to general manager–wire termination. An eight-year Ideal veteran, he was previously Southwest regional manager. Prior to joining Ideal, DiDonato was with SupplyForce and Allen-Bradley. He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Union College.

Bridgeport Fittings Inc. (Stratford, Conn.): The company announced its sales representative award winners at the 2010 Annual NEMRA (National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association) Conference, held February 16-20 in New York. The award winners for 2009 were: Representative of the Year Platinum Market Award: Bell & McCoy, Houston; Representative of the Year Gold Market Award:Rouzer Sales Co., New Hope, Minn.; Customer Service Representative of the Year:Tina Lyons, C.C. Pierce, Duxbury, Mass.; Salesperson of the Year Award winners: South: Dana Arnold, Bell & McCoy; North: Rich Bartosch, C.C. Pierce; West: Gene Moore, Electric Sales Unlimited, Santa Fe Springs, Calif..; Conversion Salesperson of the Year Award: Adam Chase, Lester Sales, Indianapolis, Ind.