People On the Move: April 19, 2024 Update

Southwire (Carrolton, GA)

Winn Wise (photo above) has been named executive VP and chief commercial officer, effective April 29.
In line with the company’s long-term strategy, its efforts to remain generationally-sustainable and its commitment to best meet the needs of its stakeholders, Wise will lead commercial activities for the company and drive continuous improvement of the customer experience. 
Most recently, Wise served as senior VP of Southwire’s Infrastructure business, where he led sales with a focus on solutions that allow contractors to work safer while being more efficient, competitive and profitable.
As part of this transition, Aaron Asher will assume the title of senior VP, Customer Experience, and will report to Wise as he continues to lead Southwire’s distribution operations with a stronger emphasis on customer experience. The company’s inside sales for Infrastructure and Electrical Products and Engineered Solutions (EP&ES) and Southwire SPEED services teams will now report to Asher, further supporting Southwire’s efforts toward sustaining a premier customer experience. 

Fromm Electric Supply (Reading, PA):

Patrick Standish was appointed regional VP. In this role, he  will oversee all sales and operations of Fromm’s Allentown, Bloomsburg, Honesdale, Lebanon, and Souderton branch locations in eastern Pennsylvania. Standish has held leadership roles at Graybar, Cooper Electric Supply, Schwing Electrical Supply, U.S. Electrical Services and All Jersey Mechanical & Construction.

DOT Family Holdings (DFH) (Mt. Sterling, IL)

DFH, the investment office of the Tracy family and owners and operators of Dot Food Inc., the largest food industry redistributor in North America and OmniCable, West Chester, PA,  announced the appointment of Christopher Breslin as OmniCable’s CEO effective May 13. Breslin will succeed interim CEO Jeff Siegfried, the company’s co-founder, who will remain as vice chairman.
In 2019, DFH acquired OmniCable, a redistributor selling wire, cable, fiber and other communications and electrical products exclusively to distributors. The appointment of Breslin followed an extensive CEO search process conducted by the board over the last several months, with the mandate to appoint a passionate leader with extensive experience developing strong supplier and customer relationships.
Breslin joins OmniCable with more than 28 years of global distribution experience in both the electronics and electrical industries. Most recently, he was president of Farnell Electronics, responsible for the strategy, execution and financial performance of its $2-billion global businesses. Prior to Farnell, he spent five years as the COO for Crescent Electric Supply Co.
Motion Industries/Genuine Parts Co. (GPC) (Atlanta): GPC’s board of directors appointed James Howe as president of its Motion industrial business. Howe has nearly 30 years of experience with the company. Most recently, he served as the executive VP and chief commercial and technology officer at Motion.

Ideal Industries (Sycamore, IL)

Pam McMeen is now chief marketing officer (CMO).  Since 2021, McMeen has been a board director for Ideal Industries. Most recently, she was the CMO for Chamberlain Group, which she joined in 2014. She previously, worked at consumer goods companies in marketing roles for Lifetime Brands and Instant Brands. McMeen holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and an MBA from Northern Illinois University.

Zekelman (Chicago)

Steve Simpson is now VP-Electrical Sales. In this role, he will have full commercial responsibility for Wheatland Tube, Western Tube and Picoma, three of Zekelman’s operating companies.
Simpson has more than 20 years in the electrical industry in a variety of leadership roles. In his previous role, he grew the company’s account coverage to more than $1.2 billion. He currently resides in Phoenix with his wife and two children. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Lewis University.

Service Wire (Culloden, WV)

Ron Gibson, project manager, received the 2024 Distinguished Career Award from the Wire & Cable Manufacturers Alliance (WCMA). This industry award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a high degree of professional integrity and outstanding leadership.
Nominated and selected by his peers, Gibson is recognized for his persistence and capacity for managing complex assignments and in multiple vectors of the business, including quality, purchasing and logistics.

Rexel USA (Dallas)