Electrical People: New CEO at Crestron, Major Changes at Fromm, Stahlin, Warshauer, Graybar

Fromm Electric Supply (Reading, Pa.): Lou Fromm will assume the role of V.P. of business development and will identify new business opportunities and collaborate with account managers to increase market share with existing and prospective customers. In 18 years with Fromm, he has been branch manager, director of residential construction sales and V.P. of marketing.

Nancy Kershner is now sales and marketing operations manager. In this new role, Kershner will support the sales management team and oversee marketing initiatives. In six years with Fromm, she has been director of customer satisfaction, and branch manager of Fromm’s Reading location.

Dennis Matheson has been named branch operations manager and will lead process improvement initiatives focused on enhancing efficiency and customer service across Fromm’s branch network. In his 10 years at Fromm, he has been a counter associate, inside salesperson, and branch manager of Fromm’s Pottstown location.

Shealy Electrical Wholesalers (Columbia, S.C.): Industry veteran Chris Union is now V.P. of product strategy and will ensure that the company’s product lines and supplier relationships are in sync with its strategy. He will be based in Shealy’s Columbia headquarters.

Crestron (Rockleigh, N.J.): Randy Klein is now president and CEO. He has been in the AV and technology industry throughout his professional career, and a member of the Crestron family for 25 years.  Company founder George Feldstein has also named Dan Feldstein vice chairman and COO. He has been with Crestron for over 20 years. With a background in computer engineering, Feldstein spent the first eight years of his Crestron career in R&D, and since that time has been managing many of the company’s operations.

Springfield Electric Supply Co. (Springfield, Ill.): Drew McMinn has accepted the position of regional V.P. and will oversee all aspects of the business for the five locations assigned to the company’s Region One, which includes their Bloomington, Champaign, Danville, Peru and Rockford, Ill., branches. His previous responsibilities included managing the company’s 18-person Strategic Business Unit.

Don Harrod has been named branch manager for both the Quincy and Hannibal, Mo.,branch locations. He will assume his new role effective May 1, the same month tentatively scheduled for the Quincy facility to move to its new location at 2009 Jennifer Lane, Quincy, Ill. Harrod currently leads the company’s Conserve-Energy Solutions  Team.

Gary Huwe has accepted the position of strategic business manager. He will manage the Strategic Business Unit and support  team leaders in key supplier management.

Kris Kincaid has accepted the position of branch manager, Mattoon, Ill. Kincaid will transition from his current role as branch manager, Danville to his new responsibilities in early April. He will manage the day-to-day operations and lead all sales and marketing efforts in the Mattoon marketplace.

Dan Lewis will add the management responsibilities of the Danville branch to his current role as branch manager of Champaign. Lewis will coordinate all operations, sales and marketing for both branches.

Graybar Electric (St. Louis): Richard Cole, Chicago district vice president and a member of Graybar’s board of directors, will retire Oct. 1, 2014, after 42 years with the company. He will also step down from his role as a director at that time. William Mansfield has been elected to the board and appointed senior vice president, sales and marketing, effective Apr. 1. Mansfield has worked for Graybar for more than 26 years and currently serves as vice president, marketing. Steven Stone has been appointed to take Cole’s place as district vice president in Chicago, effective Oct. 1. Stone currently serves as vice president, sales at Graybar’s corporate headquarters and has been with the company for more than 15 years. Thomas Pratt has been named district vice president in Minneapolis, effective July 1. Pratt will replace G. William Keller, who will be retiring after 40 years with the company. Pratt is a 24-year Graybar veteran who currently serves as director, electrical sales, in the company’s Chicago district.

Warshauer Electric Supply (Tinton Falls, N.J.):  Shawn Renner has been promoted to commercial lighting sales engineer in the company’s commercial lighting department. He will not only be assisting customers with all of their commercial lighting needs, but will continue to serve as the company’s energy auditor. In addition to this position, he has taken on the responsibility of being Warshauer’s LED specialist, and utilizes his knowledge to perform energy audit site visits. He has a bachelor of science in electrical engineering, from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).

National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) (Rosslyn, VA.): Jeff Tomitz has joined its staff as V.P. of finance and administration and will oversee the financial activities of the organization and human resource management. He comes to NEMA with 30 years of experience, more than 10 of which has been in public accounting. Tomitz principally served the not-for-profit community within the Baltimore–D.C. metro corridor. Recently, he served as chief financial officer for the National Quality Forum and the American Council of Education. He graduated from St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York, earned a graduate degree in finance from American University in Washington, D.C., and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants.

In other news at NEMA, John Caskey, assistant V.P. of operations, has been named an IEEE Senior member. This honor is bestowed only to those who have made significant contributions to the electrical engineering profession. IEEE is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Legrand (Harrisburg, Pa.): Legrand has hired Ryan St. John as educational specialist, responsible for the company’s NuVo and On-Q product lines. St. John joins Legrand from Performance Solutions, where he worked as a field training representative for Nokia phones. He also has more than 15 years of experience in A/V sales,  training and management working in both retail and low voltage integration and distribution.

Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures (Belding, Mich):  This manufacturer of fiberglass enclosure products has appointed Bill Dunn as national sales manager. He brings more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, management and forecasting to Stahlin. He was most recently employed with T&B  as a regional specification manager.

Beckhoff Automation North America (Savage, Minn.): Aurelio Banda is the company’s new V.P. of sales and marketing. Previously, Banda was a Central Region manager. Before coming to the company, Banda was owner/CEO of an engineering firm he started, Controls Plus Inc., and has over 25 years of industrial automation experience with companies such as Bosch Rexroth and Rockwell Automation. He’s a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and holds an MBA and a bachelor of science degree in electronics engineering.