The National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED), St. Louis, Mo., announced plans to close its four regional offices Aug. 31 and incorporate those functions into a new department in St. Louis. The group's four regional managers declined to pursue an opportunity to manage regional affairs from St. Louis.

NAED said closing the regional offices is the second phase of a reorganization plan to reduce operating costs and enhance value to its membership. The first phase was the move last October from Wilton, Conn., to St. Louis.

John Hager, Lewiston, N.Y.; Dwight Gordon, Atlanta, Ga.; Bill Zillman, Chicago, Ill.; and George Bernardo, Los Gatos, Calif., turned down offers by NAED to apply for new positions in St. Louis. No reasons were cited for their decision not to apply for the positions, said Joel Hoiland, NAED's president.

The reorganization is intended to improve efficiencies, cut costs by eliminating the overhead of four regional offices, and improve productivity and communication among staff members, while allowing the association to add a director of information and research and develop new member services, according to NAED.

NAED is forming a new department in St. Louis, called membership and regional services, which will assume many of the same functions that were handled by the regional offices. The association will hire a director of membership and regional services and two managers of membership services for that department. All positions are expected to be filled by Aug. 1.

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