Ideal Industries (Sycamore, Ill.): Bob Bukowsky, the company’s vice president of sales, is retiring after 22 years of service with the company. Ideal National Field Sales Manager Joe Saganowich has been appointed to replace Bukowsky following Bukowsky’s retirement date of June 30. A respected leader in the electrical industry, Bukowsky began his career with Ideal as national sales manager in 1985 and was soon promoted to a number of leadership positions within the company. In 1993, he became vice president of sales. Bukowsky played an active role in positioning Ideal as an industry leader in electrical distributor training, in-store promotion and partnership programs. In addition to serving on several councils for the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED), Bukowsky has been active in the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), and the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC). He was also appointed to the Manufacturer’s Group Council of the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA), and later served as its chairman for a year. He went on to be appointed to the NEMRA board of directors for two years where he received the Association’s Manufacturer of the Year award.
Dave Skowronski has joined Ideal as senior product manager for the company’s Test and Measurement business unit. Previously with Molex, he will report to Jim Gregorec, group manager for Test and Measurement. In his new position, Skowronski will be responsible for management of Ideal branch circuit testing products including SureTest testers, circuit tracers, breaker finders, and insulation and grounding inspection products. Skowronski brings to his new position a diverse marketing and engineering background.
Ferraz-Shawmut (Newburyport, Mass.): Piyush Saxena has been named product manager – Surge Protection. Saxena will be responsible for the company’s surge protection product line expansions. Saxena has electrical industry experience in both program and product line management.
Capital Lighting & Supply, a subsidiary of Sonepar USA (Richmond, Va.): Darren Talcott has been hired as warehouse manager of the company’s Hamilton Street branch in Richmond. Talcott spent 21 years in the United States Air Force, managing airfield warehousing in the cargo and logistics field both overseas and stateside. He was responsible for the warehousing and shipping of a variety of items, ranging from beans and bullets to aircraft fuselages, sailing vessels and M1A1 tanks. He was named the Air Force’s Thunderbirds Logistician in 2000. Prior to coming to CLS, he worked for the Defense Commissary Agency at Langley Air Force Base. Shawn Sheppard has been hired as an addition to the outside sales force for the company. Sheppard began his electrical career working for a contractor in 1990. He moved to the electrical distribution side of the industry in counter sales and management for seven years and was promoted to outside sales for six years. His focus with CLS will be in contractor sales.
Border States (Fargo, N.D.): Trent Litchy has been named Southwest Region operations manager. In his new role, he will participate on the company’s Southwest Region management team focusing on radio frequency (RF) technology and process improvements. The company’s Southwest Region comprises Arizona and portions of New Mexico, Texas and northern Mexico. Litchy joined Border States in April 2000 in the Third-Party Billing department of the company’s Fargo branch. He transferred to the warehouse where he covered receiving and worked with the fledgling Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) program. In 2005, he was named the customer managed nventory/vendor managed inventory (CMI/VMI) administrator where he helped grow the program throughout the company. Litchy also has worked with Border States’ Operations team to set up several warehouse and provide training during acquisitions.