People

Graybar Electric (St. Louis): Kathleen M. Mazzarella has been named president, effective June 1, 2012. Mazzarella currently serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer, a position she has held for the past year. In her new role, she will continue to set the strategic direction for Graybar's sales and marketing function, while overseeing the day-to-day operations of the overall business. Also on June 1, Graybar's chairman, president and CEO, Robert A. Reynolds, Jr., will become executive chairman. He will remain actively involved in the company as the lead executive, overseeing the company's strategy and providing guidance to the executive team.

Graybar also announced that Peter Horncastle will become executive vice president and general manager, assuming leadership of Graybar Canada when that group's president and CEO Frank Hughes retires on Jan. 5, 2012. Hughes started his career with Harris & Roome Supply in 1972, holding positions in sales, branch management, and electronics and operations management. He acquired an ownership stake in the company and stayed with the organization after it was purchased by Graybar. Horncastle has been with Graybar Canada since 1989, starting his career in the warehouse. He has since garnered a variety of experience, serving in counter and sales positions, as branch manager, sales and marketing manager and regional vice president.

WattStopper, (Santa Clara, Calif.): This lighting controls manufacturer, part of the Legrand group, announced the resignation of its president, Jerry Mix, and the immediate appointment of Dean Pournaras to that position. Mix, who co-founded Wattstopper 28 years ago, will be joining Finelite as chief executive officer on January 1, 2012.

Pournaras has been a member of the WattStopper management team for the past seven years, rising to his current position as VP of sales and marketing, after 15 years with Legrand/Pass & Seymour, where he served in a number of director-level sales and marketing roles that included the retail and electrical distribution channels. Pournaras is a graduate of St. Mary's College and earned his MBA from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.

Staco Energy Products Co. (Dayton, Ohio): UPS industry veteran Jim Beiersdorff has joined the company as Eastern regional manager. Based in the Burlington, Wis., area, Beiersdorff, brings more than 17 years of single-phase and three-phase UPS and power quality experience. He will develop and maintain relationships with business partners who promote the company's power quality products in the eastern U.S.

Beiersdorff holds a BSEE from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Prior to joining Staco, Beiersdorff was with Chloride Industrial Systems as.

Lunera Lighting Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.): Doug Hickey has been appointed executive chairman of the board and Michael Keddington is now CEO. Hickey has more than 20 years of operational experience holding senior-level positions in the telecom, Internet and technology space. Keddington has more than 20 years of revenue, profit, organization and brand building experience for companies such as Intel, Sanmina-SCI, Oracle and Symantec.

Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, N.D.): Jeremy Welsand is now CFO and a member of the company's executive council. He was an audit partner in the Minneapolis, Minn., office of Grant Thornton, where he led client relationships for annual audits, due diligence and transactional engagements for private and public companies.

Cape Electrical Supply (Cape Girardeau, Mo.): Curt Buchheit has joined the company has CFO. He most recently served as V.P. of finance at HAVCO Wood Products in Cape Girardeau. He holds an accounting degree from Southeast Missouri State University and is a CPA.

Schneider Electric (Palatine, Ill.): After more than 20 years of service, Ralph Harris, the company's senior V,P., sales and marketing, plans to retire at the end of 2011. Harris has held numerous leadership positions in sales, marketing and organizational development throughout his career with Square D Co. and Schneider Electric, most recently managing the company's U.S. Power Business sales and marketing organization.