Electrical People - Sonepar USA Realigns Top Management

Sonepar USA (Philadelphia): John Hardy, president of CapitalTristate will be joining the Sonepar USA management team as executive V.P. of business development effective Jan. 1, 2015.  Hardy will report directly to Halsey Cook, president of Sonepar USA.  With over 45 years of experience in the industry he built significant relationships that will allow him to represent Sonepar USA in various roles.  Hardy has served as president of CapitalTristate for the past 20 years.

Don Block, president of NorthEast Electrical Distributors, will expand his role to become president of the newly formed New England-Mid Atlantic Region.  CaptitalTristate will join the region, which currently includes NorthEast Electrical Distributors and Cooper-Friedman Electric Supply.  Block will continue to report to Halsey Cook in this capacity.

Alan Rosenfeld, COO of CapitalTristate, has been appointed president of CapitalTristate effective January 1, 2015.  He has been the COO of CapitalTristate for the past six years and in the industry for over 30 years. He will be responsible for all day-to-day operations for CapitalTristate and will report to Don Block, president New England-Mid Atlantic Region.

Frank Marandino, V.P. – operations of NorthEast Electrical Distributors, will assume the position of COO of NorthEast Electrical Distributors.  Marandino has been V.P. of operations of NorthEast for the past nine years. In his new role he will assume responsibilities for branch operations in addition to his current responsibilities.  He will continue to report to Don Block.

National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED), St. Louis: Allison Olden has been hired in a new role as talent recruitment and retention specialist to support member distributors’ needs in this area. She has a B.S. in business administration and several years of experience in talent recruitment.

Werner Electric Supply Co. (Neenah, Wis.): Rob Stern will assume the role of V.P., business development and Dan Ebben will assume V.P.-sales responsibilities in addition to his previous role as V.P.- electrical products. Stern and Ebben are both long-term Werner Electric employees. Scott Teerlinck, Werner Electric’s president said in a press release,  “By creating a new company-wide focus on business development, we intend to drive growth in new geographical and technical areas. Secondly, by combining sales leadership and electrical product management under a single executive, we expect further synergies that will result in increased market share and accelerated growth.”

Halco Lighting Technologies (Norcross, Ga.):  David Nelkin has been promoted to V.P., product and supply chain operations. His most recent role was director of product development for Halco. Nelkin joined Halco in 2006 as product development manager. Now reporting to President Kim Cook, Nelkin’s responsibilities will include the entire supply chain from product inception and procurement through pricing, quality control, logistics and order fulfillment.

National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) (Rosslyn, Va.): Donald Hendler, president and CEO, Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc., was named chairman of NEMA’s 2015 Board of Governors at the association’s annual meeting in San Diego earlier this month. Other officers elected at the annual meeting are First Vice Chairwoman Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO, GE Lighting; Second Vice Chairman Michael Pessina, president, Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.; Treasurer Thomas Gross, Vice Chairman and COO—Electrical Sector, Eaton; and Immediate Past Chairman John Selldorff, president and CEO of Legrand North America.

Elected to the NEMA Board of Governors for three-year terms expiring in 2017 were John Estey, S&C Electric; Robert Gilligan, GE Industrial Solutions; Susan Graham, Elantas PDG; Jess Hansen, OSRAM Sylvania, Inc.; Don Hendler, Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.; Robert McIlroy, Robroy Industries; Marcelo Mosci, GE Healthcare; Greg Scheu, ABB Inc.; Brent Shafer, Philips North America; and Laurent Vernerey, Schneider Electric North America. Raj Batra, Siemens Digital Industry, was elected to a two-year term expiring in 2016.

In other news at NEMA, the association awarded Jeff Bingaman Jr., the former senator from New Mexico and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, with its Bernard H. Falk award at its 88th annual meeting. Established in 1991 in honor of the former NEMA president and CEO, the award acknowledges outstanding contributions to the electroindustry.

Robroy Industries (Verona, Pa.): After a 50-year career at Robroy Industries, Peter McIlroy will hand over the leadership reins of the fourth-generation family business to his two sons as part of a succession plan.  He will retain his position as chairman of the board, and effective immediately his son Rob McIlroy will be promoted to the position of CEO. Robroy’s president/COO, David Marshall, and Robroy’s CFO, Mike Deane, will report to Rob.  Also effective immediately, Jeff McIlroy will be promoted to vice chairman. The promotions of Rob McIlroy and Jeff McIlroy mark the successful transition to the fourth generation of family leadership at Robroy Industries in its 109-year history.

Peter McIlroy joined Robroy in 1965, became president in 1980, and served as CEO for the past 21 years.  During his tenure, he guided the company through numerous acquisitions; decentralized the corporation in 1995 to autonomous and accountable divisions; and took the company private after 50 years of being traded publicly.

IEWC (Milwaukee, Wis.): Chris Reich has accepted the role of business development director with national responsibilities in coordinating key growth initiatives within the U.S. Division. The company also announced leadership changes, effective Jan. 2015, within its U.S. West and U.S. South business units with the appointments of Marie-Claude Milot (U.S. West) and Pete Henrikson (U.S. South) as business unit directors.