People - June 2012

Border States Electric (Fargo, N.D.): Treavor Peterson was named strategic services manager. He joined BSE in 2008 as an inventory planner. Peterson received his BA from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and earned his master's degree from the University of Mary, Bismarck, N.D.

In other news at Border States, Kent Fischer was named corporate operations manager-regional operations manager. He joined BSE in 1998 as a utility customer service representative in BSE's Bismarck, N.D., branch. Most recently, he was serving as Northwest region operations manager. Since 2005, he has played a major role in storm restoration efforts at both the branch and corporate levels to serve the company's utility customers. Fischer has provided training and support during acquisitions and implementations and been active in improving supplier collaboration and integration through Six Sigma events.

Graybar Electric Co. (St. Louis): David Bender has been appointed Atlanta district V.P., effective July 1. Bender has more than 24 years of Graybar experience and currently serves as district V.P. of Graybar's Seattle operations. He replaces Joe LaMotte, who is retiring from the company after nearly 40 years of service. In another promotion, Kirk Snure has been appointed to the position of Seattle district V.P., effective July 1. Snure has served in several sales and management positions during his 26-year career and is currently director, electrical sales, in Seattle.

Butler Supply Inc. (Fenton, Mo.): Jim Engelhard has joined the company as regional vice president.

Electric Supply Center (ESC) (Burlington, Mass.): David Rossman is the company's new energy specialist. He has 30 years of experience in the electrical market, including working for another electrical distributor where he helped customers make the best use of the Mass Save programs available in Massachusetts. Rossman graduated from Massasoit Community College and is the chairman of the Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School Advisory Committee for the Electrical Program and serves on the Bristol Plymouth Regional Vocational Technical High School Advisory Committee for Electrical.

Madison Electric Products (Cleveland, Ohio): Rob Fisher has been appointed V.P. of marketing. In his previous role as director of marketing, Fisher played an integral role in helping Madison break ground in the electrical industry by crowdsourcing product development through the Sparks Innovation Center and leveraging social media to connect with a broader audience. Fisher joined Madison Electric Products in 2009. Prior to Madison, Fisher spent four years as creative director and director of marketing for TCP Inc.

IDEA (Arlington Va.): IDEA's board of directors elected Steve Sokolow, chairman of the board of Leviton, as the IDEA chairman of the board for 2012-2013. He previously served on the IDEA board as the vice chairman from 2011-2012 and treasurer from 2010-2011. Outgoing IDEA Chairman Larry Stern served in the position from 2011-2012 and will continue to serve on the board as a voting director.

IDEA also welcomes one new officer: Wes Smith, president, Mayer Electric Supply, and four new voting directors: Jack Lawson, president and CEO, Electrical Equipment Co.; Jack Carlson, president, Electrical Division, Southwire; Vernon Nagel, chairman, president and CEO, Acuity Brands Inc.; and Bob Siegel, V.P., investment and inventory management, Graybar.

Maxlite (West Caldwell, N.J.): Taylor Bolton is now senior sales director of consumer sales. Before joining MaxLite, Bolton most recently held various sales and business development responsibilities for Technical Consumer Products. He also has worked for GE and Gillette.

In other news at Maxlite, Jim Wang is now product marketing manager and will report to Pat Treadway, MaxLite's director of product marketing. Most recently, Wang served as product manager for Simkar, He has also worked for Holophane, Hubbell Lighting and Cooper Lighting. Wang has received nearly 40 patents and has an MFA in optical kinetic sculpture from the University of Kentucky and a BFA in industrial design from the University of Illinois.

Lighting Science Group (Satellite Beach, Fla.): This manufacturer of LEDs recently announced that K.R. (Kaj) den Daas, a senior executive for many years with Philips Lighting, will be joining company's board of directors. From 1977 to 2010, den Daas served in various capacities with Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., including from 2006 to 2009 as chairman of Philips Lighting North America and CEO of BU Professional Luminaires North America; and from 2003 to 2006, as COO of BG Lamps and executive V.P. of Philips Lighting B.V. Since 2010, he has been the owner of Dasio Consulting, a Netherlands-based consulting firm that provides strategic advice to an array of electrical industry clients in North America and Europe.

Robroy Industries Conduit Division, (Gilmer, Texas): Meghan Searer comes to the company as a quotation specialist. She previously worked as a marketing and office assistant and has a BBA in business management from the University of Texas.