People

Sept. 1, 2008
Summit Electric Supply (Albuquerque): Industry veteran Scott Long has been promoted to service center leader in Orlando. Long graduated from Florida State

Summit Electric Supply (Albuquerque): Industry veteran Scott Long has been promoted to service center leader in Orlando. Long graduated from Florida State University in 1990 with an accounting degree and joined Bray, Beck and Cutter, an East Coast public accounting firm. He moved into electrical distribution in 1993 and has worked exclusively in the Orlando market since then. He joined Summit in March 2007 as an account manager.

Todd French and Maurice Novak have joined Summit's La Porte and Houston service centers, respectively. French's experience includes sales for Crouse Hinds, Okonite and, most recently, Rockbestos-Surprenant Cable Corp. Novak comes to Summit from J.D. Martin Co. Previously, he was in direct sales for Thomas & Betts Corp. French will target engineering and construction clients. Novak will focus on original equipment manufacturers and maintenance, repair and operations clients.

Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Little Neck, N.Y.): Mike Mattei has been appointed vice president and general manager for the company's Commercial and Industrial business. He is responsible for building sales of the company's commercial and industrial wiring devices and systems across its electrical distribution, retail and end-user market channels. Mattei joined Leviton in 2004 as director of Fiber Optic Systems, when Leviton acquired and integrated his company, Fiber Management Solutions, into its Network Solutions business.

Chloride Group PLC (Libertyville, Ill.): Joe Nitiss has been appointed president of the company's Chloride North American operations. As president, Nitiss will have responsibility for the strategic planning, oversight and growth of Chloride services and products in the $2.2 billion North American power-quality market. Nitiss joins Chloride from Honeywell where he served as general manager of Honeywell Cable Products. Prior to this, he held marketing and sales roles of increasing responsibilities within Emerson Electric.

National Lighting Bureau (Silver Spring, Md.): Douglass M. Baillie, Acuity Brands Lighting, has been elected chair of the National Lighting Bureau. Baillie is Acuity Brands Lighting's vice president for corporate communications. He has 42 years' experience in lighting, electrical, and utility marketing management, principally with Acuity Brands (Lithonia Lighting) and Siemens. Baillie has been actively involved with the National Lighting Bureau since 1996. Susan Bloom, Philips Lighting and Advance, was elected vice chair. Robert W. “Rob” Colgan Jr., National Electrical Contractors Association, was elected secretary/treasurer. Others elected or re-elected to serve on the National Lighting Bureau's 2008 Executive Committee are: John Coventry, International Association of Lighting Designers; Jon A. DiGesu, Osram Sylvania Inc.; Mary Beth Gotti, GE Lighting; Howard Lewis, Illuminating Engineering Society of North America; Terry McGowan, International Dark-Sky Association; Cary S. Mendelsohn, interNational Association of Lighting Management Companies; Steven Myers, Philips Lighting Co.; Tom Naber, National Association of Electrical Distributors; Ron Runkles, National Electrical Manufacturers Association; Kristine Winner, National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions; and James M. Yorgey, Lutron Electronics Co. Inc.

Legrand North America (West Hartford, Conn.): Steve Mann has joined the company as a regional vice president. He will be responsible for the Southwest region, which includes Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona. Mann will be based in Arizona. Mann joins Legrand North America from Crouse-Hinds where he served in various management positions. He was most recently Great Lakes manager for Crouse-Hinds. Prior to Crouse-Hinds, he held sales management positions with Thomas & Betts, Acme Transformer and Woodhead Industries.

Omni Cable (West Chester, Pa.): Vicki Allin has been appointed district manager of the Chicago region and will be responsible for sales and warehouse operations in metropolitan Chicago. She was previously assistant branch manager of the Chicago region. Before joining Omni Cable, Allin worked for French Gerleman Electric for 18 years. Josh Key has been appointed general manager — Tampa, Fla. Key, a six-year veteran of Omni Cable, started in inside sales with Omni, transitioned into outside sales, and became account manager before being promoted to the sales manager for Atlanta.

NorthEast Electrical Distributors, a subsidiary of Sonepar-USA (Canton, Mass): Robert Leland has assumed the newly created role of regional sales director for the eastern Massachusetts & Worcester, Mass., markets. Leland joined NorthEast Electrical Distributors as part of the Ralph Pill Electric Supply Co. acquisition last year. Leland has more than 15 years of experience in the electrical distribution industry as well as sales leadership roles in the wireless and wire-line telecommunication industries. Leland will manage the Canton regional outside sales force and report to Pat Blake, vice president of sales for the region.

Graybar Electric Co. (St. Louis): Matthew W. Geekie has been elected senior vice president, secretary and general counsel. In his new capacity, Geekie will lead Graybar's legal department and serve on the company's board of directors. Additionally, he is responsible for risk management. He replaces Thomas F. Dowd, who retired after 11 years of service with Graybar. Geekie has more than 20 years of legal experience.

WESCO (Pittsburgh): Steven J. Riordan, vice president, operations of WESCO International Inc., announced that he will retire from his position with the company effective Sept. 1. Riordan's employment agreement with the company will be terminated in connection with his retirement. David Bemoras, currently serving as vice president, sales and marketing of Communications Supply Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, assumed the role of vice president, Operations, on Aug. 1, and is transitioning into Riordan's duties.

Mayer Electric Supply Co. Inc. (Birmingham, Ala.): The company has announced some leadership changes to follow Jim Summerlin's retirement at the end of 2009. Wes Smith will be Mayer's president, succeeding Summerlin. Jim Summerlin will become vice chairman.

Nancy Collat Goedecke will succeed Charles Collat Sr. as chairman, and Charles Collat Sr. will become chairman emeritus. Smith started as a temp working in Mayer's Montgomery, Ala., branch 20 years ago. He became a part of Mayer's internal audit staff and led Mayer's work to become one of the first electrical distributors in the U.S. to receive ISO certification. After that, as chief information officer, Smith led Mayer through the trying period when their new ERP computer system was implemented 2000. With his recent experience as chief operating officer, he has worked closely with each of Mayer's operating divisions. Summerlin has been with the company for more than 30 years. He will help in transitioning the company for another 16 months.

Maurice Electrical Supply (Washington, D.C.): Tom Burgess has joined the inside sales department. Burgess has worked in the Washington, D.C., market since the 1970s, beginning at Branch Electric.

Ideal Industries (Sycamore, Ill.): Jim James has been named by Ideal's board of directors as the company's president and chief executive officer. James was most recently president of ITW Building Components Group, a division of Illinois Tool Works. See page 9 for more details on James' appointment.