People

March 1, 2006
Summit Electric Supply (Albuquerque, N.M.): Scott Van Deventer has been named one of two senior product managers. He will oversee inventory management

Summit Electric Supply (Albuquerque, N.M.): Scott Van Deventer has been named one of two senior product managers. He will oversee inventory management for the company's 19 service centers, which stretch from Phoenix to New Orleans. Most recently, he served as purchasing manager for the Mid-Atlantic division of Rexel, which acquired Branch Electric in 2000.

Leviton Manufacturing (Little Neck, N.Y.): Tim Welch has been appointed technical sales specialist for Leviton's Southern California region. Welch's territory will extend to the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties where he will work to generate sales for the company's line of lighting management systems and help educate designers, engineers and specifiers. In a career spanning 20 years, his background includes expertise creating control system designs that comply with California's Title 24 requirements and specifications.

Robroy Industries (Verona, Pa.): David A. Marshall, president, has been elected to Robroy's board of directors. Marshall has been with Robroy since 1995.

Berk-Tek (New Holland, Pa.): Jim Frey has been appointed copper products manager. He will be responsible for managing all Berk-Tek copper LAN cable products. Frey was previously with FCI/Berg Electronics, where he managed cable assembly products for telecom equipment manufacturers.

Border States (Fargo, N.D.): Border States' board of directors has announced the following senior officer appointments: Tammy Miller, CEO; Gary Miller, president; Greg Thrall, senior vice president of operations and information technology; and Brian Becker, vice president of finance. In addition, Gary Miller and Greg Thrall join Tammy Miller on the board of directors

Encore Wire Corp. (McKinney, Texas): Vincent A. Rego, co-founder and chairman of the board, has been named chairman emeritus. Rego, who is recovering from a stroke he suffered in May 2005, will remain as a director of the company until its annual stockholder meeting in May but will not stand for re-election at the meeting.

Osram Sylvania (Danvers, Mass.): Stephanie J. Anderson has been appointed manager of corporate communications and chief corporate spokesperson. Anderson began her career at Osram Sylvania in 2002 as a communications and human resources associate. Prior to her promotion, she was the manager of corporate communications for the company's automotive lighting and precision materials and components divisions.

Perfect Fit Glove (Smithfield, R.I.): Rob Geiger has been appointed product manager for the dipped/coated line of products.

DuPont Cabling Solutions (Wilmington, Del.): Robert D. Kenny has been named global technology manager. Before joining DuPont last summer, Kenny was vice president and general manager of Premise Solutions at Krone Digital Communications.

Independent Electric Supply (Somerville, Mass): Bruce Gray has been appointed vice president and chief financial officer. Gray was vice president of finance for the last 14 years.

Cantex Inc. (Mineral Wells, Texas): Albin James joins Cantex as director of sales marketing for the electrical and telephone products division. James is a 21-year veteran of the electrical industry.

National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW, Washington, D.C.): NAW members have elected Robert A. Reynolds Jr., chairman/president/CEO of Graybar Electric Co., St. Louis, as chairman of the NAED board of directors. Reynolds succeeds Sydney “Tucker” Jones, president, Hudson Valley Paper Co., Albany. Jones will remain active on the NAW board as immediate past chairman. The following leaders were also elected NAW officers for 2006: Chairman-Elect Raymon A. York, CEO of Ewing Irrigation Products, Phoenix; First Vice Chairman C.S. “Chip” Hornsby, president and CEO of Ferguson Enterprises, Newport News, Va.; Second Vice Chairman Randy Lindberg, president of the western region of United National Foods Inc., Yorba Linda, Calif.; Secretary Robert N. Taylor, president and CEO of DO it Best Corp., Fort Wayne, Ind.; and NAW President and Chief Executive Officer Dirk Van Dongen.

Lenox (East Longmeadow, Mass.): A 20-year Lenox veteran, Craig Vogel has been named vice president of sales for the industrial market. Jim Welch has been named vice president of sales for the commercial selling organization, responsible for the electrical, plumbing and HVACR channels of distribution. Welch has more than 20 years at Lenox.

Horizon Solutions Corp. (Rochester, N.Y.): John Salvadore joins Horizon Solutions' electrical division as vice president sales and marketing. Formerly, he was vice president and general manager for Vanguard National Alliance (VNA).

Milbank Manufacturing (Kansas City, Mo.): Bruce Bittner has joined Milbank as vice president of sales and marketing. Most recently, the electrical industry veteran was vice president, distribution channel for Panduit.

Orbit/UMI (Los Angeles): Mark Novin joins the sales team, handling inside sales activities for all Orbit/UMI electrical installation products and working with distributors nationwide. Novin has been affiliated with the electrical sales industry for more than 10 years, most recently with the Electrigroup Agency.

ElectricSmarts Network (Glastonbury, Conn.): ElectricSmarts has announced that industry veteran William “Bill” A. Trotman has agreed to serve on its advisory board. Trotman recently retired from Ferraz Shawmut, where he served as president and CEO since 1991. Eric Stricoff, former vice president of finance for ESPN, also recently joined ElectricSmarts' advisory board.

Tom Stark, president, Arlington Industries Inc., Scranton, Pa., was awarded NEMRA's Thomas F. Preston Manufacturer of the Year Award at last month's National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association annual meeting.

Obituaries

Maurice Lessans, founder of Atlantic Electric Supply Corp., Washington, D.C., died Dec. 24, 2005. He was 100 years old.

Lessans founded the family owned electrical supply company in 1927 and remained active in the business for more than 60 years. Lessans' son, Morton Lessans, is the current president of Atlantic Electric.

Thomas F. Farmer, the founder of manufacturers' rep agency The T. F. Farmer Co., Greensboro, N.C., died Feb. 2. He was 78 years old.

Farmer was an active member of the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA), Tarrytown, N.Y., since 1974. He served as a member of the NEMRA board of governors, the executive committee and as chairman of NEMRA from 1985 to 1986. As part of his duties as chairman, Farmer led the transition from NEMRA's founding executive director to its current management team.

He is survived by his wife, Alberta Farmer; daughters, Lou Rymer, Linda Montgomery and Elizabeth Guard; and four grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Shriners Hospital for Children, Office of Development, International Shrine Headquarters, 2900 Rocky Point Dr., Tampa, Fla., 33607 or to the American Cancer Society, South Atlantic Division Inc., Guilford Unit, P.O. Box 41912, Raleigh, N.C., 27629.

David A. King, a long-time electrical industry veteran and a 35-year member of the St. Louis Electrical Board, died Jan. 28. He was 68 years old.

King spent much of his career with St. Louis' Glasco Electric, which in now a part of Rexel.

Memorial contributions may be made to CJD Foundation, P.O. Box 5312, Akron, Ohio 44334.

Roland “Rollie” or “Bud” Boreham Jr., chief executive officer of Baldor Electric Co. from 1978 to 1981 and chairman from 1981 to 2004, died Feb. 5. He was 81 years old.

Boreham began his career with Baldor in 1947. He moved to Fort Smith, Ark., Baldor's corporate headquarters, in 1961, and became vice president of sales in 1962.

Boreham is survived by his wife, Judy Boreham; and daughters, Debra Boreham Vicharelli and Kate Boreham Maurras.

Memorial donations may be made to the Engineering Scholarship Fund at University of Arkansas Fort Smith, 5210 Grand Ave., Fort Smith, AR 72913.

Wiremold/Legrand and Pass & Seymour/Legrand (Syracuse, N.Y.): Wiremold and Pass & Seymour, two of the major Legrand brands in North America, have announced the promotion of Dan Kissane to director of codes and standards for both companies. Kissane served as Pass & Seymour's manager of codes and standards for the last eight years.