People

Needham Electric Supply Co. (NESCO) (Canton Mass.): Mike Gambino has joined the company’s board of directors, bringing more than 30 years of executive management experience and industry knowledge. He was president of Pass & Seymour/Legrand and Wiremold/Legrand until his retirement in 2007. Before that, Gambino started his own consulting firm and created bestroute.com, an online site for hard-to-find electrical products. Earlier in his career, was with Midland Ross/American Electric prior to their acquisition by Thomas & Betts. Gambino joins current board members, Tom Cloud, chairman of the board for United Electric; William Von Achen, president of Strategic Management Resources; and Frank Cincotta, co-founder and chairman of the board for Needham Electric.

Horizon Solutions (Rochester, N.Y.): Industry veteran Mike Ales has joined the company and will manage Horizon’s central distribution center and inventory management/purchasing team. He was previously Werner Electric’s V.P. of purchasing and operations.

WattStopper/Legrand (Santa Clara, Calif.): Jim Young will join the company as vice president of sales and marketing and Shireen Zekanoski becomes the V.P. of operations and engineering. Young was most recently an executive with Acuity Brands, serving as V.P. and general manager of the company’s specialty group, which includes Winona Lighting, Peerless, Healthcare Lighting, Hydrel and Mark Architectural Lighting brands.

Zekanoski has held numerous senior positions with Silicon Valley companies, including NeoPhotonics, Apple, Celerity and 3Com. Most recently, Zekanoski was V.P. of global operations for Santur Corp. Prior to that, she was with Apple.

Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, N.D.): Laura Drager has been named branch manager for the BSE location in Billings, Mont. Drager has been in the electrical supply business for 28 years. Before joining BSE, she was the regional operations manager for HD Supply Utilities’ Northwest Region. She earned her bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership at the University of St. Mary, Bismarck, N.D., and is a member and past president of the Montana Association of Female Executives (MAFE).

Cleaves-Bessmer-Marietti (CBM), Inc. (Kansas City, Mo.): Richard “Duff” Greenwood has been named president of this independent manufacturers’ rep. Greenwood has been with CBM Inc. since 1978; was named as a vice president in 1992; and been on the board of directors since 1996. Prior to CBM, Greenwood worked at General Electric Supply Co. in Topeka, Kan., as a branch manager, and was a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps.

W.W. Grainger (Lake Forest, Ill.): Sean O’Brien, president, Acklands-Grainger Inc., Grainger’s Canadian subsidiary, resigned from the company effective March 23. O’Brien joined Acklands-Grainger as V.P., sales, in Nov. 2007, taking on additional responsibilities for e-business and marketing in early 2009. He was named president in Sept. 2009. Mike Pulick, president, Grainger International, will serve as interim president of Acklands-Grainger.

Nicor (Albuquerque, N.M.): Doug Welter has joined their team as COO, bringing more than 30 years of business, operations and technology experience from the semiconductor, electronics and equipment manufacturing industries. He has a BSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and did graduate work at Arizona State University.