Electrical People: Changes in leadership at SESCO Lighting

Brook Electrical Supply (Addison, Ill.): John Finerty, currently vice president   of sales, will become the company’s acting president effective Jan. 30, 2016. He has over 29 years of electrical industry experience in the Chicago market. Dana Mavros, Brook Electrical Supply’s current president, will be leaving to pursue other opportunities outside of Sonepar USA. Brook Electrical Supply has been a supplier to the electrical construction and commercial markets for over 85 years. Sonepar USA acquired the company in April 2000.

SESCO Lighting (Winter Park, Fla.):  Effective Jan.  1, 2016, Marshall Graham, previously SESCO Lighting’s president and chief executive officer, will become chairman of the board of directors, and Todd Langner, senior vice president,  business development since 2008, will become president and CEO. Mike Segal, company founder and board chairman since 1967, will remain a member of the company’s board.

Graham has been the company’s president and chief executive officer since 1992 and led the company through the major downturn in 2008-2009 to record years in 2014 and 2015. Langner was responsible for implementation and execution of strategy for new divisions such as Public Sector and National Accounts along with overall coordination of BDL, a custom lighting supplier and manufacturer, and the Distributor Solutions and Energy Divisions.

In addition, SESCO has appointed Thomas Salter as the new vice president of business development. Salter previously spent 16 years with Cree in various management positions. Graham, Langner and Salter will be based in Winter Park, Fla., at the company headquarters. And on a local level SESCO Lighting appointed several new area managers: Mike Collins — Jacksonville; Ken Hines — Pensacola; Bill Todhunter — Fort Lauderdale.

SESCO Lighting, celebrating its 50th year in business in 2016,says it’s the largest independent commercial and industrial lighting sales organization in the United States, with offices throughout Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. The company is an ESOP with 100% of its corporate stock owned by 220 employees and annual sales of $300 million.

Shat-R-Shield Inc. (Salisbury, N.C.): TD Mangrum is now Eastern Regional sales manager. A recent territory realignment allowed for the addition of three new sales positions in order to provide more focused attention within their respective areas. Shat-R-Shield’s sales force now consists of four regional sales managers to cover North America as well as a director of national accounts and specification sales role. Mangrum has worked as corporate sourcing manager at Acuity, national account sales at Leviton Manufacturing Co. and most recently division manager at Strong Lighting. He will cover the Eastern region of the United States and eastern Canada.

Universal Lighting Technologies Inc. (Nashville, Tenn.):   Lee Anne Zacharski has joined the company as a regional sales manager for the Southwestern region of the United States. Zacharski joins the Universal  Lighting Technologies distribution sales team boasting over 30 years of experience working in the electrical products industry in Southern California and surrounding markets.  Most recently, she held a significant sales position in an automation and control products division.

In her new position, Zacharski will provide dedicated, hands-on support to lighting agents, electrical distributors and end users in the region and will report to Stu Sumner, regional vice president for the company’s West Coast region. She will develop, facilitate and optimize the sales strategy for Universal’s LED fixtures and comprehensive lighting products.

Baldor Electric Co. (Ft. Smith, Ark.): Ryan Fitts was recently promoted to director of quality where he will lead and direct Baldor’s Corporate Quality program with a focus on addressing customer concerns, particularly around lead times, on-time delivery and root causes of product quality issues.

Fitts joined Baldor in 2011 as a member of the Lean Core Team. Since that time, he successfully led the project team that established the 210 motor plant in Fort Smith, Ark., and most recently was the company’s director of logistics. He has a strong manufacturing background with prior experiences at both Whirlpool and Hallmark. Fitts holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Arkansas and an MBA from Washburn University.