People - Oct 19, 2012

GE Lighting (East Cleveland, Ohio): John Strainic will head the business unit’s North America Consumer Lighting operation. In this newly created role, Strainic will be responsible for driving growth for GE Lighting’s North America consumer business. Strainic has been general manager of Global Lighting Product Management since April 2007. In this role he was responsible for all global lighting strategy, including product development and capacity planning. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

Relume Technologies (Oxford, Mich.): This manufacturer of light-emitting diode (LED) products and smart grid control systems for outdoor lighting applications has appointed lighting industry veteran William Astary to its board of directors. In addition to his role on the Relume board of directors, Astary serves as senior V.P. of sales for Lumenergi, a Silicon Valley-based technology company focused on energy management through its Responsive Lighting Networks. Prior to Lumenergi, Astary held the position of senior V.P. – strategic marketing and business development, serving as a member of the executive leadership team of Acuity Brands.

IDEA (Arlington, Va.): At the 2012 IDEA E-Biz Forum held recently in Dallas, Hubbell Inc., Orange, Conn., and Kirby Risk Electrical Supply Lafayette, Ind., were the manufacturer and distributor recipients for the sixth annual Richard Buzun Award for Leadership and Innovation in eBusiness. Phil Barrios, senior director, e-business & marketing, Hubbell Inc., and John Burke, president, Kirby Risk Electrical Supply, accepted the awards.

Buckles-Smith (Livermore, Calif.): This November John Woffington, service center supervisor, will be retiring after working for 40 years in the electrical industry. Woffington began his career in the business as a counter salesperson at Standard Electric Supply, Oakland, Calif., in 1973. He went to work at State Electric Supply in 1976, where he enjoyed a series of promotions from counter sales to inside sales, purchasing and eventually V.P. of operations and purchasing. When Buckles-Smith purchased State Electric Supply in 1995, the branch was moved to Richmond, Calif., and he transferred to the Livermore branch.

Dakota Supply Group (DSG) (Fargo, N.D): DSG has named John Gearman as its Electrical Segment manager. Gearman will take over the position from Mike Tupa, who was recently named DSG’s chief segment officer. In addition to his role as Electrical Segment manager, Gearman will continue to serve as DSG’s Automation Segment manager. Gearman has worked for DSG since 1985. Starting out in the automation control panel shop, he transitioned through the company, working in positions at the city desk and in outside sales until he was named Automation Segment manager in 2005. He took on the role of Sioux Falls branch manager in 2010.

Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, N.D.): Shawn Burgad has been named as the company’s Northwest region business development manager. He joined BSE in April 1997 as a warehouse associate in the company’s Bismarck, N.D., location and has held various positions at the branch such as city desk representative and inside sales. His other positions with the company have included industrial control specialist to support the sensor and safety business for BSE in the northwest region, and account manager for the Billings, Mont., and Gillette, Wyo., branches. Before joining BSE, Burgad worked as an electrician in North Dakota.

In other news at Border States Electric, Michael Robinson has joined Border States Electric (BSE) as enterprise risk manager. He has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services, consulting, consumer products and technology industries. Before joining BSE, Robinson worked at KPMG in Kingston, Jamaica; Bank of America in Louisville, Ky.; and Fidelity in St. Petersburg, Fla. Most recently, he worked as a senior credit risk consultant at American Financial in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and American Association of Business Appraisers.

Xicato (San Jose, Calif.): James Norrish has joined this LED lighting manufacturer as regional manager for Australia and New Zealand. Norrish has had experience running a lighting production and event company and has worked for lighting companies such as Clay Paky and Martin in Australia. He’s also active with the Illuminating Engineering Society.