People: March 12, 2010

March 12, 2010
Graybar, (St. Louis): The company announced the appointments of Richard Offenbacher to senior V.P.- U.S. business and Kathleen Mazzarella to senior V.P. - sales and marketing

Graybar, (St. Louis): The company announced the appointments of Richard Offenbacher to senior V.P.- U.S. business and Kathleen Mazzarella to senior V.P. - sales and marketing. Both Offenbacher and Mazzarella also serve on Graybar’s board of directors. Offenbacher, a Graybar veteran of nearly 42 years, will oversee Graybar’s field organization within the United States, along with its corporate accounts and government business. He most recently served as senior V.P. - sales and marketing for Graybar’s electrical business.

Mazzarella has 30 years of Graybar experience and most recently served as senior V.P. - sales and marketing, Comm/Data. In her newly expanded role, she has responsibility for Graybar’s entire sales and marketing organization. These appointments follow the recent retirement of Dennis E. DeSousa as senior V.P. - U.S. business.

Crescent Electric Supply (East Dubuque, Ill.):Martin Burbridge was promoted to president and CEO. Formerly company president, Burbridge is the fifth president and fourth CEO of the 90-year-old firm. He started with the company in 1978 and since then held a number of executive posts.

Fromm Electric Supply (Reading, Pa.): The company announced several appointments and hires. Jon Gerhart has been promoted to the position of V.P. of sales. He will be responsible for the management, deployment and training of Fromm’s sales organization. Previously, he managed the company’s residential business and brings over 17 years of diverse experience in the construction and engineering fields. Gerhart holds a B.S. degree in environmental resource management from the Pennsylvania State University and a MBA from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Kirk Ericsson has been appointed Fromm’s V.P. of market diagnostics, where he will be responsible for the analysis of sales and market data to identify growth opportunities as well as the implementation of strategic pricing initiatives. He has been with Fromm for 10 years and previously held the position of V.P. of sales. Ericsson served in the U.S. Navy and holds technical certifications from CHI Institute.

Tom Herron has been hired as manager of Fromm’s Energy Solutions division. He will be responsible for the advancement and execution of sales and marketing strategies to grow Fromm’s energy retrofit business. Herron has 30 years of experience in the electrical industry, primarily in the area of energy services. He holds an Associate of Applied Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and a B.A. in marketing from Kings College.

Theresa Partington has been hired as a lighting specialist in Fromm’s Energy Solutions division. Partington has spent 14 years in the electrical industry with expertise in the area of commercial lighting and holds certifications from several lighting manufacturers.

Todd Rutledge has been hired as director of Fromm’s commercial construction sales department. He will be responsible for overseeing a staff of specialists and developing sales and marketing strategies to grow Fromm’s commercial lighting and switchgear business. Rutledge brings 25 years of electrical industry experience and holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.

Rich Miller has been promoted to the position of manager, Residential Solutions Group. He will oversee the sales, customer service and operations of Fromm’s residential market segment. In addition, Miller will manage their appliance division and three design centers. He came to Fromm Electric Supply with its acquisition of Harrisburg Electrical Supply in June 2005.

ElectricSmarts Network (Glastonbury, Conn.):Sal Huerta has been promoted to V.P. of business development for the company’s NetPricer Division. His responsibilities include sales and managing customer service. NetPricer allows distributors to furnish estimate pricing directly to an electrical contractor’s software, expediting the bid process and reducing man-hours.

Ericson Manufacturing, (Willoughby, Ohio):Jim Johnson has been promoted to vice president of sales and marketing and will be responsible for the development and implementation of regional and national strategies, as well as managing existing and new sales and marketing strategies to achieve company revenue and profitability targets. Johnson joined Ericson in March of 2009 as the North Central regional sales manager and was promoted to National sales manager in September 2009. Prior to joining Ericson, Johnson spent 18 years with the Lester Sales Co., an electrical manufacturer’s rep agency, serving as the Indiana sales manager. He has a B.S. degree from Northern Illinois University and maintains his CPMR certification.

EvoLucia, Inc./Sunovia Energy Technologies, (Sarasota, Fla.): The LED manufacturer has hired Kevin Arthur as vice president of international sales and marketing. Arthur previously served as head of international sales and marketing for lighting industry giant Cooper Industries, where he was responsible for growing sales from $5 million to $37 million. He has a B.S. in business administration from the University of Dayton and a MBA in international business from Benedictine University.

ComCables (Denver):Tom McAllister is now with the company as director of sales, manufacturing. His responsibilities will include developing an independent rep team and creating a channel partner program. McAllister comes to comCables from an independent low-voltage solutions rep firm where he served as president.

KNIPEX-Tools (Arlington Heights, Ill.): Randall Booth has joined the company as sales manager and will be responsible for all traditional distribution sales in the eastern United States and Puerto Rico. He is also the key account representative for major accounts headquartered in that geographic region. He joins KNIPEX from Minerallac, where he served as the Southeast regional manager since 2006. Prior to joining Minerallac, Booth was sales manager at Hughes Supply Inc. and held positions at Klein Tools, Robert Bosch Tool Corp. and AEG Power Tools. Also joining the company is Julie Jozwik, who will be working in sales and marketing at KNIPEX and will offer support to the extended sales team, develop social media plans and platforms, and facilitate advertising and public relations initiatives. She comes to the company from Motorola’s Mobile Devices Division where she served as a marketing manager.

Electrotech (Minneapolis):Jim Lynch was hired as the new Wisconsin territory utility account manager. He will be responsible for managing utility accounts in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. For the first seven years of his career, Lynch managed accounts in the commercial industrial marketplaces. He came to the electric utility industry in 1997 and spent the following thirteen years successfully managing utility accounts in this same territory for another firm. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.