Cooper Industries (Houston): The company announced several changes in senior management including the retirement of Terry A. Klebe as senior vice president and chief financial officer after 15 years with the company and the appointment of Neil Schrimsher as executive vice president, Cooper Connection, a role in which he will oversee four of Cooper's electrical products divisions — Cooper B-Line, Cooper Bussmann, Cooper Wiring Devices and Cooper Lighting. These four units, which represent approximately 40 percent of the company's total revenue, are bound by a common distribution channel and primarily serve commercial, industrial and residential markets. Schrimsher will maintain his position as president of Cooper Lighting.
In other personnel changes at Cooper, Mark Eubanks has been named as V.P. and general manager, Cooper Lighting, reporting to Schrimsher. He most recently was vice president and general manager, Architectural & Lighting Control Products.
Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures (Belding, Mich): Roger Schroder has been appointed engineering manager. He brings to Stahlin more than 18 years of expertise in manufacturing, most recently as program manager for Key Plastics, as well as diverse experience as a plant manager and manufacturing engineering manager. Schroder has a MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University and a B.S. in mechanical engineering technology from Lake Superior State University.
United Electric Supply Co. (New Castle, Del.): George Vorwick, Jr. is now CEO, succeeding Tom Cloud, who has retired after 36 years with the company. Vorwick has 30 years of business experience in sales and management in the electrical wholesale industry. Since joining United Electric Supply in 2000 he has held a number of positions including branch manager, sales manager, and regional V.P. of sales in the Maryland, District of Columbia and Northern Virginia region.
National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (Portsmouth, N.H.): At the NEMRA national conference held last week in New York, Electrical Wholesaling magazine named its 2010 GEM Award Winners for independent representatives. Mike Gorin of Atlanta's Gorin Hopper McCoy won the GEM Award and Mike Cuddy of Renaissance Electrical Marketing Inc. (Renmark), Pittsburgh, won the GEM Rising Star Award.
Generac Power Systems (Waukesha, Wis.): Terry Dolan was named senior V.P. of sales. He has extensive experience working in complex, engineered product environments, as well as multi-faceted channel experience. Before joining Generac, Dolan helped to lead and implement the sales and marketing strategies on a global level for major manufacturing companies in the U.S. Most recently, he was senior V.P. of marketing and business development for Boart Longyear, an integrated minerals exploration services provider and drilling products manufacturer. He is a graduate of Concordia University, Mequon, Wis., with a degree in business management and communications.
Horizon Solutions (Rochester, N.Y.): Stephen Couture has joined the firm's Lighting and Energy Services Group as business development manager in upstate New York. Couture has an extensive background in the lighting and energy-efficiency business and electrical distribution in the Northeast, said Horizon in a release. His responsibilities will center on design and implementation of energy-efficient systems, working with new and existing customers while maximizing available rebates and utility incentive programs to help offset costs.
Cooper Tools (Raleigh, N.C.): Laura Ulz was named president of Cooper Tools. She joined Cooper in 2007 as vice president of operations and since then has been responsible for leading Cooper's manufacturing, sourcing, supply chain, quality and continuous improvement groups. She will continue to oversee these functions in her new expanded role. Prior to joining Cooper, Ulz worked for Honeywell International and Texas Instruments. Ulz holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University. Ulz succeeds Gary Masse, who is leaving Cooper to explore other opportunities, the company said.
BJ Electric Supply Inc. (Madison, Wis.): Maureen Barsema, vice president and CFO, will be NAED's incoming South Central Region vice president-elect. She has been in the industry for 28 years and has served on NAED's South Central Region Council, Performance Analysis Committee and Reverse Logistics Committee. She also is a Network Chair for the U.S. Electrical Divisional Board of Affiliated Distributors.