Electrical People: Johnston named CEO at WinWholesale

WinWholesale Inc. (Dayton, Ohio): Jack Johnston was promoted to CEO and retains his previous title as president of WinWholesale. Rick Schwartz, who previously was CEO and chairman, is stepping down from that executive role after 17 years. Schwartz remains chairman of the WinWholesale board of directors.

Schwartz took over the CEO role upon the retirement of Dick Schiewetz, a founding investor and leader of the company. Since Schwartz became CEO, WinWholesale become one of the larger broad-based distributors in the U.S.  Sales tripled during Schwartz’s tenure as CEO to $2.5 billion in 2014, and earnings quintupled.

Johnston becomes just the third CEO in the history of WinWholesale, which was founded in 1956 under the name Primus. He joined WinWholesale in 1977 as an accountant with Dapsco Inc. (now WinWholesale Group Services), the organization providing complete shared business services for WinWholesale local companies. In 2005, a restructuring formed the current WinWholesale Inc. Following the restructuring, Johnston became chief financial officer. He was appointed president in July 2011.

WECS (Palm Springs, Calif.): Rick Schmidt was recently hired as national sales manager and will work from the Palm Springs headquarters. He has 30 years of experience as owner/director at Western Automation Inc (WAI), an agency for several of WECS’ vendors, Schmidt comes to WECS after WAI was sold to another company.  He was instrumental in the original business between ABB and GE-Wind, delivering thousands of wind turbine controllers over the years. Schmidt will continue to direct WECS business in the operations and maintenance (O&M)  and construction related involvement in wind, solar, storage and other renewable energy industry segments.

Progress Lighting (Greenville, S.C.):  Brian Hoddy has joined  the brand’s national accounts team as manager of builder sales and marketing where he will tasked with managing Progress Lighting’s presence in the multi-family, residential and new development market segments. After spending nearly 20 years working for Shaw Industries — a carpet manufacturer and floor covering provider — in California, Hoddy has longstanding relationships among builders, developers and other members of the A&D community, particularly on the West Coast.

Robroy Industries Conduit Division (Gilmer, Texas): Jim Berns was recently promoted to methods analyst. He joined the Robroy Industries Conduit Division in 2012 as an operations supervisor. Prior to joining the Robroy team he spent more than 10 years at Sharp’s Environmental Services in Carthage, Texas, where he was responsible for various aspects of their plant operations. Berns graduated from Letourneau University with a BA in business administration and served his country from 1990-1995 in the United States Marine Corps and Army.

Car Charging Group Inc. (Miami Beach, Fla.): The company, which promotes itself as the largest owner, operator and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging services, announced that Mike Calise has been appointed as the company’s CEO. Michael Farkas will continue to serve as chairman of the board and will also serve as the chief visionary officer.

Calise has with more than a decade of cleantech experience managing the hardware, software, and service divisions for various technology companies from early stage through business plan execution. Prior to CarCharging, he served as the head of North America EV Solutions at Schneider Electric, where he was responsible for the overall business in North America, including the company’s EV strategy, products, services, channels and profitability. Prior to Schneider Electric, Calise was the founder of EVadvise, an independent firm focused on mass scale electric vehicle infrastructure, where he developed the EV Charging infrastructure technology plan for Marin Transportation Authority’s countywide charger deployment as well as others.

Hunt Electric Supply Co. (Burlington, N.C.): Steven Freeman, a 31-year company veteran, has been promoted to branch manager of the company’s Raleigh location.

Electric Supply Center (ESC (Boston): Jim Crabtree recently joined the company as director of supply chain and will oversee all ESC operations and purchasing across the company’s five Massachusetts locations. He was previously V.P. of supply chain management for US Electrical Services Inc. in Middletown, Conn.

Electrical Board of Missouri and Illinois (Fenton, Mo.): The association recently appointed officers for its 2015-2016 board of directors: Chairman – Jim Heisserer, Ross & Baruzzini; 1st vice chairman – Phil Jacquot, Guarantee Electrical Co.; 2nd vice chairman – Lacey Bernard, Okonite Co.; and Treasurer – Keith Cooper, McClure Engineering. Appointed to two-year terms on the board were Mark Barthel, Springfield Electrical Supply; Bob Benson, Benson Electric; Mike Kelsch, French Gerleman; Jim Porter, Cape Electrical Supply; and Daryl Vander Weerd, Eaton.