Electrical People: New executives and positions at Ideal, Walters Wholesale, Schaedler-Yesco and more

Ideal Industries (Sycamore, IL): Chairman and CEO Jim James appointed Douglas Sanford as group president and general manager for Ideal in the United States. In his new role, Sanford will provide strategic leadership and direction for the company’s Wire Termination and Tools & Supplies business units, and manage the Aerospace business unit and corporate research and development.

Sanford most recently was president and CEO of HA International (HAI), a manufacturer and supplier to North American foundries of products such as resin systems for bonding sand and refractory coatings. He holds a degree in marketing from Bradley University.

In addition to the appointment of Sanford, Ideal announced that Terry Stevens, V.P. of Electrical Distribution Sales, will be retiring effective June 30, 2017. She has led the Electrical Distribution sales force since 2013, and will be succeeded by Joe Saganowich, an Ideal veteran who is returning to the company after working in the sports marketing industry. Prior to his departure, Saganowich spent 17 years with Ideal, most recently as general manager of SK Hand Tool, an IDEAL subsidiary, and as V.P. of Electrical Distribution.

Walters Wholesale Electric Co. (San Diego, CA): Walters has promoted several managers. Jeff Maggio has been promoted to branch manager of Walters San Diego/Scripps Ranch branch. He was previously manager of the Walters Vista branch. Maggio came to Walters with 30 years of industry experience. He has a BA from Loras College and served four years in the Marine Corps. Wayland Boozer was promoted to manager of purchasing for Walters Central Distribution Center. He spent his entire career in wholesale distribution. Originally from Georgia, Boozer enjoys the SoCal weather. He holds a BS from the University of Georgia. Matt Reese has been promoted to manager of Walters Pasadena, taking over for Bill Brock, who will be retiring after 22 years with Walters. Reese has been with Walters for six years as an outside sales representative for the San Diego/Scripps Ranch branch. He has been in the industry for the last 16 years and is a graduate of Indiana University.

Schaedler Yesco Distribution, Inc. (SYD) (Harrisburg, PA): SYD is redefining geographical regions across the company into a new structure that it says will improve efficiency and reduce complexity for SYD’s vendors.

Farrah Mittel has been promoted to the newly created position of Eastern Region V.P. She will also continue to drive the corporate marketing strategy and direction as SYD expands its e-commerce capability.  Kurt Suchar will assume the newly created position of Central Region V.P. The Central region aligns with the SYD Rockwell territory.  Matt Brnik will continue managing the Western Region. Additionally, Greg Schaedler has been promoted to the newly created position of V.P. of SYD.

Ametek (Berwyn, PA): The company’s board of directors has elected two new senior vice presidents and two new vice presidents and general managers. Matthew French and Bruce Wilson are the senior vice presidents and David Jordan and Prakash Mahesh are the vice presidents and general managers.

French has served since 2004 as vice president and general manager of Ametek Precision Motion Control.  He recently assumed additional responsibility for Ametek’s global floor care and specialty motors business. Jordan previously served as V.P. and business unit manager of Specialty Metal Products’ Precision Tube and Strip Business Unit. Prakash joins Ametek from Closure Systems International, where he served as V.P. and general manager.

Service Wire Co. (Culloden, WV): The company added several salespeople to its team. In Culloden, Seth Cook is now serving customers in the Northeast as a sales rep and Rodney Smith is now a business development manager. Cook joined Service Wire after seven years in customer service, and Smith has 22 years of experience as a fleet manager for a rental car company and was responsible for maintaining 10,000 units. Service Wire also promoted several employees, including Ray Langdon, who will now be director of finance and treasurer; Ron Gibson, will serve as Service Wire’s purchasing manager;  and Kevin Rice, now V.P. of manufacturing and distribution.

National Lighting Bureau (NLB) (Shepherdstown, WV): David R. Errigo, V.P. of sales for LumenOptix, has been elected NLB chair and Cary Mendelsohn, CEO of, was elected NLB vice chair, representing the interNational Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO). Ray Kasmark, Jr., the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ (IBEW) director of business development, was elected secretary/treasurer.