LEDVANCE (Wilmington, Mass.): Matt McCarron was promoted to V.P. of the company’s Industrial Commercial Channel for the United States and Canada, filling the role held by Mark Corcoran who retired this year but is acting as senior advisor for the trade channel over the coming months. McCarron has been with Osram Sylvania for over 20 years, most recently as V.P. of retail sales.
LEDVANCE GmbH is a fully-owned subsidiary of Osram GmbH and offers Sylvania advanced LED lamps as well as a wide range of traditional light sources, standardized luminaires and connected lighting solutions. The company is active in more than 120 countries and has approximately 9,000 employees. The general lighting lamps business amounted to around 40% of Osram revenues, or approximately $2.35 billion.
Greenlee Communications (Vista, Calif.): Ken Fairleigh is the company’s new V.P. of global sales. Greenlee’s Communications products include a portfolio of tools and test equipment for installation, maintenance, troubleshooting and repair of copper, fiber and Wi-Fi networks. Fairleigh’s primary focus is to grow strategic customer accounts and partner relationships. Fairleigh brings to Greenlee over 20 years of senior executive experience with companies including GE, Danaher, Square D and private equity. He earned a MBA from the University of Dallas and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Duke University.
WESCO International, Inc. (Pittsburgh): Matt Espe was elected to the company’s board of directors effective Nov. 1. Espe is a former CEO and president of Armstrong World Industries, Inc., a position he held from July 2010 to March 2016. Before that he was CEO of Ricoh Americas and IKON Office Solutions, Inc. Espe began his career at General Electric Co. and was with GE for more than 20 years, ultimately rising to lead GE Lighting as president and CEO. Espe is also a board member at Veritiv Corp., Realogy Holdings Corp., and NCI Building Systems, Inc.
Alan Wire (Sikeston, Mo.): Rick Lagacy has joined the company as Chicago-based area manager. In this newly announced role, he will be responsible for the company’s overall business and strategic growth plans in the northern Illinois market area. Lagacy spent the past several years with Allied Tube and Conduit, serving most recently as inside sales manager. Alan Wire Co. is a manufacturer of copper and aluminum building wire products.
Ericson Manufacturing Company (Willoughby, Ohio): John Ericson III is now the president of the company. He has spent the past five years as operations manager for Ericson and has been transitioning into the role of president for six months. He also worked for 16 years in various capacities at the company, which was founded in 1918 by Edward Oscar Ericson, whose passion was to make the jobsite safer to ensure that everyone returned home without harm.
Knipex Tools (Arlington Heights, Ill.): The company recently hired Bill Grimpe as its product marketing specialist and Catherine Smith as its marketing communications coordinator. As product marketing specialist, Grimpe will develop and execute all product launches, provide e-commerce and sales support, develop marketing support materials and documentation, and develop product positioning and messaging that differentiates Knipex’s products from others in the market. He has more than 15 years of industry experience, working previously as a divisional sales merchant assistant for Home Depot and an assistant product merchant for True Value Co. He has an associate’s degree from Triton College.
In her role as marketing communications coordinator, Smith is responsible for creating brand awareness through managing Knipex’s social media pages, newsletters and tradeshow materials. Prior to joining Knipex, Smith worked as a marketing intern at McDaniels Marketing Communications and earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.
Knipex is the North American sales and marketing organization of Knipex-Werk and is located in Arlington Heights, Ill. Knipex-Werk, Wuppertal, Germany. The press release said it’s the largest manufacturer of professional-quality pliers in the world, producing up to 65,000 pliers per day, or up to 325,000 pliers each week.
Elemental LED (Emeryville, Calif.): April Mitchell was promoted to V.P. of marketing and will lead the company’s global marketing, branding and communication initiatives and programs. She will continue to report to Chris Le Blanc, chief revenue officer and executive V.P. Mitchell has more than 20 years of marketing experience with global technology companies and non-profit associations. She has a degree in international business from Ohio State University and a MBA from University of Phoenix.