Electrical People: Sipe to Lead Strategy for Border States

Graybar (St. Louis): David Maxwell has been named senior vice president – sales, Dennis DeSousa has been appointed regional vice president for the Western Region, and William Mansfield has been named senior vice president - marketing. Maxwell, in his new role, will lead the development and implementation of Graybar’s sales strategy. Maxwell has worked for Graybar for 30 years and is currently regional V.P. for the company’s Western Region. He also serves on Graybar’s board of directors.

DeSousa will oversee the company’s California, Dallas, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Seattle and St. Louis districts, as well as its two most recent acquisitions, Advantage Industrial Automation and Cape Electrical Supply. DeSousa has more than 36 years of industry experience and currently leads Graybar’s efforts to drive growth through acquisitions.

Mansfield will lead Graybar’s marketing effort. A 29-year Graybar veteran, Mansfield is a member of Graybar’s board and currently serves as senior V.P., sales and marketing.

Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, ND):  James Sipe, who joined BSE through its acquisition last year of Shealy Electric Wholesalers, Columbia, SC, is now the company’s vice president strategy enablement. Sipe will lead business intelligence, integration of acquisitions and maximization of strategic projects.

The company also named Neil Gartin director of inventory and purchasing and Tony Serati as director of sourcing and pricing. These appointments are part of BSE’s ongoing efforts to serve the needs of its customers to help them succeed, the company said. Gartin joined BSE in 2005 and served as purchasing manager prior to this promotion. Serati joined BSE in 2003 and served as customer supply chain manager prior to this promotion.

Barron Lighting Group (Glendale, AZ): The company has added Karl Zartarian as Northeast Regional V.P.. He will be responsible for leading sales and training of the company’s independent lighting agencies serving electrical distributors across the Northeast region.

Zartarian brings over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing, most recently as channel and key accounts director at Eaton/Cooper where he focused on distributor partnerships for regional and national distributors which encompassed all of Eaton’s businesses, including Eaton (Cooper) Lighting.

Halco Lighting Technologies ( Norcross, GA): Samir Shah has joined the company as vice president/general manager for J&J Electronics. Halco Lighting acquired J&J Electronics, a manufacturer of pool, spa, and fountain lighting products, in December 2016. Shah will report Kim Cook, president & CEO, assuming leadership of the J&J business unit as Jim Rafferty, current acting president of J&J Electronics, transitions out of the business over the next several months.