Cree, Inc. (Durham, NC): Chuck Swoboda, chairman, president and CEO will step down from his executive positions and his seat on the company’s board of directors following a transition period. He intends to stay on until a successor is appointed, and thereafter will remain available as a consultant to the company to ensure a seamless transition of leadership responsibilities.
Swoboda joined Cree in 1993 and has held numerous executive positions. He has had a seat on the board since 2000 and was named chief executive officer in 2001, adding the chairman title in 2005. He led Cree from a near start-up to a major player in lighting with approximately 6,400 employees worldwide. Cree said its board will retain an executive search firm to identify a successor and that both internal and external candidates will be considered.
FLIR Systems Inc. (Wilsonville, OR): James Cannon has been appointed president and CEO, effective June 19, succeeding Andy Teich, whose retirement after 33 years of service was previously announced.
Cannon previously served for more than 16 years in a variety of senior leadership positions at Stanley Black & Decker, most recently as president of Stanley Security North America & Emerging Markets. He also served in the U.S. Army for 10 years as an infantryman and armor officer in a wide variety of assignments around the world, including Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq.
Lunera (Santa Clara, CA): The company has appointed John Bruggeman as CEO to drive the company to be first-to-market with smart building services using the company’s patented plug-and-play technology that converts a standard LED lightbulb into an intelligent, IoT-edge device, which it says provides customers a total cost of deployment of less than 50-cents per square foot and fast deployment of sensor networks. Bruggeman has decades of executive leadership at companies including AOL, Cadence, Lucent, Mercury, Netscape, Wind River, and most recently, as CEO of Traxpay, a privately-held B2B payments provider.
Universal Lighting Technologies (Nashville, TN): Richard Smith is now regional sales manager for the Midwest region. Smith’s main focus will be to grow the Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee markets. Smith brings nearly a decade of experience in lighting systems sales to his new role. Previously, he managed lighting agency territories in the Northwest and Southeast U.S.
Omni Cable (West Chester, PA): Tony Aimi is now the company’s Northwest and Northern California regional manager. In this role, Aimi is dedicated to managing and growing the region. He has more than 30 years of experience. Prior to Omni Cable, Aimi was the Western Regional V.P. at Thomas & Betts. He received his BA from Stephen F. Austin State University.
Allied Wire & Cable (AWC) (Collegeville, PA): Eric Tremblay a veteran of the wire and cable industry in Canada, was hired to run the company’s new office in Montreal. Tremblay had previously worked for BJG and A.E. Petsche. He has over 20 years of experience in the MIL-Aero wire and cable industry in North America and Europe.
Summit Electric Supply (Albuquerque, NM): Richard Landry will serve as the leader of the company’s South Texas District. Landry was previously a location manager for an international wire and cable distributor. He will report to Summit president Kevin Powell and be based out of Summit’s Houston location. Landry will be responsible for the development and execution of sales initiatives in the company’s newly created South Texas district. The district includes service centers located in Houston, La Porte, Clute, Beaumont, Bryan-College Station, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Victoria. Landry is a graduate of Louisiana State University.
Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Melville, NY): Bill Marshall, senior V.P. of marketing and sales, was awarded the 2017 Edison Report’s Lifetime Achievement Award, presented annually to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the lighting industry over their career. The honor was announced at Lightfair in Philadelphia earlier this month. His electrical career spans four decades – 23 with Leviton.
Lumileds (San Jose, CA): George Craford, Lumileds Solid State Lighting Fellow, was selected for the IEEE Edison Medal for “a lifetime of pioneering contributions to the development and commercialization of visible LED materials and devices.” He is best known for his invention of the yellow LED in 1972. In 1979, Craford began work at Hewlett-Packard, where his team pioneered the development of AlInGaP LEDs using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).
Rexel Energy Solutions (Taunton, MA): This specialized stand-alone business unit of Rexel USA created to serve energy service companies (ESCOs), announced a new sales team comprised of experienced sales executives and lighting and control specialists on the West Coast, along with a specification group. The team is now led by industry veteran Mark Bryan as Western Division sales leader based Bell, CA. He is driving and supporting ESCO business on the West Coast. With 30 years of industry experience, Bryan joined the Rexel Energy Solutions team in February to help drive this initiative. Prior to joining RES he was with P2/Hubbell Lighting Energy Solutions, Facility Solutions Group, Fluoresco Lighting & Signs and Amtech Lighting Services.
RES is also adding salespeople nationwide with four new lighting professionals in its West Coast markets and plans to add two more: Robert Lallement – ESCO Sales, specializes in lighting and controls for Utility programs nationwide, based in El Dorado, CA. He has been with Rexel since November of 2016 and previously was with Matrix Energy Services for eight years. Mark Osborne – ESCO Sales, has over 38 years of experience in the electrical industry and 26 years of experience in distribution in various roles including sales, lighting quotations, and lighting design. Steven Wilbur – ESCO Sales, has 31 years of experience in the lighting and electrical industry. Prior to joining the Rexel Energy Solutions team, he served as regional sales manager for Amerillum Brands for seven years. Mark Shotton – ESCO Sales, has over nine years of experience in commercial lighting and controls applications.
Professional Electrical Apparatus Reconditioning League (PEARL), (Wheat Ridge, CO): Howard Herndon, president of SouthWest Electritech Services, Las Vegas, has been appointed as the new president of PEARL for a two-year term. He succeeds Doug Powell, owner of National Switchgear. The group’s new board of directors was announced at its 20th annual Electrical Safety, Reliability and Sustainability Conference & Exhibition, in April. New alternate directors are Casey Blevins, National Switchgear; Scott Vaughn, Brah Electric; and Terry Wanamaker, Quality Switchgear.
