Byron Brewer, a NEMRA Founder Passes On

Byron Brewer, one of the founders of the National Electrical Manufacturer Representatives Association (NEMRA), passed away on December 19. Brewer built Harby Associates into a rep firm respected throughout the United States, and that company continues to operate today as Northeast Marketing, Wallingford, CT. It’s managed by Byron Brewer, Jr., his son.

Hank Bergson, former president of NEMRA and a close friend of Brewer, said Byron was admired by both colleagues and competitors, had a terrific sense of humor and was fun to be around. “Byron cared deeply about NEMRA and was committed to its success,” Bergson said. “He regularly volunteered his time and talents to the association. I could not have achieved the success I had with NEMRA without Byron’s commitment.”

 Byron and the rest of NEMRA’s founders, were giants of their time. All ace salespeople and savvy businesspeople, they gave generously of their time away from their businesses and families to launch NEMRA because they believed in the importance of independent manufacturers’ reps having a voice in the electrical wholesaling industry, and in establishing their position in the market as business partners equal to the distributors they called on and the electrical manufacturers they represented.

Byron and the other NEMRA founders always welcomed EW’s editors and salespeople to NEMRA meetings, and they were never to busy to spend some time with us chat about latest industry news and rumors.

Electrical Wholesaling’s editorial staff extends our thoughts and prayers to Byron, Jr. and the rest of the family, and to Anne, Byron Sr.’s partner.