People - March 2013

Robroy Industries (Verona, Pa.): Steve Voelzke has been promoted to president of the Robroy Conduit Division from general manager. He will report directly to David Marshall, president and COO of Robroy Industries. Voelzke had been a business partner of the Robroy Conduit Division for more than 17 years prior to joining the organization in 2012 from his position as senior V.P. of automation and information systems at Glenmount Global Solutions.

Southwire Co. (Carrollton, Ga.): Jack Carlson is now leading all of the company's sales and marketing and product development efforts in North America. In his new role as president of North American business, Carlson manages Southwire's Electrical, Energy and OEM divisions, as well as its newly created Industrial Division and Canadian wire and cable business. A 30-year veteran of the electrical industry, Carlson joined Southwire in 2001 as president of the Electrical Division. He previously worked in senior management positions with Assa Abloy, Yale Security Group, Schneider Electric and Square D.

As part of the reorganization, Carlson will pass the role of electrical division president to Norman Adkins, who most recently served as senior vice president of electrical distribution and retail sales for Southwire's Electrical Division. He joined the company in 1998 as director of international sales in the Energy Division and has held a number of management positions, including president of Southwire's OEM Division, which markets wire and cable to other manufactures who use it in their products.

Burndy (Manchester, N.H.): Stewart Gale was promoted to key account manager within the company's U.S. sales organization. He joined Burndy in Dec. 2011 as a senior product manager. Prior to joining Burndy, Gale owned and operating Force 9 Consulting, a management consulting firm. He was also V.P. of marketing and business development for Affiliated Distributors and held a number of management positions with New Hampshire's Rockingham Electric Supply.

Remke Industries (Wheeling, Ill.): Mark Sweeney was appointed president/ COO on Jan. 1. He joined Remke in 1988 as national sales manager and was promoted to vice president in 1992.

IP International (Chicago): Jim MacMurdo, a long-time Ideal Industries veteran, has joined the company as an associate, bringing his background in engineering and quality assurance technologies to augment IP Group International's core skills in marketing and strategic planning. In addition to his 30 years of electrical experience, MacMurdo brings a background in training, regulatory affairs and chemical formulations. He spent 28 years with Ideal in various management quality/manufacturing and sales/marketing roles and was a certified Dale Carnegie instructor for over 13 years.

Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, N.D.): David Karels has joined BSE as the corporate asset manager. Before joining BSE, Karels worked at Ulteig as the chief business officer and at NorSon Inc. as the chief operating officer in Baxter, Minn. Most recently he was the director of operations at Henry Carlson Companies in Fargo. In other news at BSE, Shawn Peterson has been named branch manager for the company's Alexandria, Minn., location. He joined BSE in April 2007 when the company acquired Minnesota Electric.

National Lighting Bureau (Silver Spring, Md. ): Howard Lewis, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America's representative to the National Lighting Bureau, has been elected to a fourth consecutive term as chair of the National Lighting Bureau's lighting education foundation sponsored by professional societies, trade associations, manufacturers, utilities and agencies of the U.S. government. Lewis is the founder and chief technical officer of Lighting Alternatives, Parsippany, N.J., a fluorescent fixture manufacturer. Also re-elected were Vice Chair Cary Mendelsohn, Imperial Lighting Maintenance Co., representing the interNational Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO), and Secretary/Treasurer James Yorgey, technical applications manager for Bureau Sponsor Lutron Electronics Co.

Ilsco (Cincinnati): Chad Collins was recently hired to the position of product engineering lead. As a recent graduate of Miami University, with a BS in mechanical engineering, Collins will oversee the overall performance of CAD operations, engineering changes, systems control and organization throughout all engineering disciplines.

Vantage Group (Crystal Lake, Ill.): The company recently announced the promotions of several key executives on its management team. Larry Welch was named the group's president, effective Jan. 1. Formerly vice president of sales, Welch is 16-year veteran of the organization. Megan O'Rear has been promoted to vice president of sales. She joined Vantage in 2006 and previously served as the group's director of business development. Todd Altpeter, a 12-year Vantage veteran, has been promoted to vice president of IT. He was previously director of information technology. Vantage Group is an entity created by Rexel, NEDCO/Rexel Canada, Crescent Electric Supply, McNaughton Electric Supply and Platt Electric Supply to provide commercial and industrial customers with a broad range of supply management services along with their purchase of electrical products from these companies' 2,400 branches around the world.

Lighting Services Inc. (Stony Point, N.Y.): Brian Keilt has joined the company's sales team as the regional sales manager for the eastern United States and eastern Canada. He brings over 23 years of experience and has worked in several different sales positions, including regional sales manager and specification sales manager. At LSI he will manage and support the representative network through product training and work closely with the design and specification community.

Staco Energy Products (Dayton, Ohio): Jeff Hoffman has been named president of Staco Energy Products Co., effective immediately. Hoffman's background includes various positions in sales, marketing and executive management at Fortune 500 companies including United Technologies, Emerson Electric, Berkshire Hathaway and his most recent role within Illinois Tool Works (ITW).

Capital Electric Supply/CED GreenTech Arizona (Tempe, Ariz.): Capital Electric Supply/CED GreenTech Arizona, a division of Consolidated Electrical Distributors (CED), has named Steve Mann as its branch manager. Mann will oversee the company's solar business Arizona, as well as the electrical-wholesale portion of the business that focuses on the Phoenix metro. He joins Capital Electric Supply/CED GreenTech from GE Lighting, where he served as sales development manager-LED Lighting. He also worked for Thomas & Betts, Acme Electric, Cooper Industries, and Legrand.

Venture Lighting International (Solon, Ohio): Tina Hendrix, has joined the company as West Coast regional sales manager. In her most recent position, Hendrix was a joint employee of WESCO Distribution and Philips Lighting serving three Southern California branch locations and calling on several vertical markets.

KNIPEX Tools LP (Arlington Heights, Ill.): Beverly Richards has joined the company as marketing manager of its North American sales operations. She has more than 12 years of global marketing experience. Her previous work experience includes five years at Klein Tools, where she was retail channel marketing manager.

Dakota Sales Group (DSG) (Fargo, N.D.): Clark Marshall is now branch manager for DSG's St. Paul, Minn., location, which primarily serves the electrical, plumbing and HVAC/R industries. He takes over this position from Dan Miller, who was appointed DSG's chief operating officer in 2012. Marshall has more than 30 years of experience in the trades industry. Before joining DSG, he served as vice president of sales and sales manager for two different electronics companies.

In other news at DSG, Todd Eber has accepted the position of East region manager. In this newly created role, Eber will oversee the management and sales staff at DSG in St. Paul, and at all five W.A. Roosevelt locations in Wisconsin. He will work out of La Crosse, Wis. Before becoming DSG's East region manager, Eber most recently served as the president of W.A. Roosevelt, which became part of DSG in Jan. 2012.

Mitsubishi Electric (Warrendale, Pa.): Mike Boyd has joined the company's Power Products Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) division as Central regional sales manager, reporting to Jim Hughes, national sales manager.

Service Wire Co. (Culloden, W.Va.): The company's Houston sales office has hired Cameron Crooks as a salesperson to service Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mexico, western Missouri, and parts of Houston. He previously worked for a government contractor selling industrial and damage control supplies to the U.S. military in Virginia Beach, Va. In other news at Service Wire, Ray Langdon joined the company as controller in the Culloden office.

Hubbell Inc. (Orange, Conn.): Carlos Cardoso, Kennametal Inc.'s chairman, president and CEO, has been elected to serve on the company's board of directors. He also serves as chairman of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, as well as on several other boards, including the National Association of Manufacturers and Stanley Black & Decker.