People on the Move - February 12, 2021

DDS (Distributor Data Solutions) Salt Lake City, UT): Electrical distribution and e-commerce veteran Pam Nation (in photo above) has joined DDS as head of a new customers success initiative. As DDS’ new customer success manager, Nation brings more than 15 years of distribution and e-business experience to help DDS customers excel at their online and digital offerings. Prior to joining DDS, Nation served as e-business analyst at Springfield Electric Supply Co. With her extensive involvement working with product data, especially for use in e-commerce, Nation has a deep understanding of the challenges distributors face in getting quality content in a usable format, whether from industry data sources or direct from manufacturers.

Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) (Arlington, VA): Janet Martin, VP and owner of Bret’s Electric, Denver, will serve as the association’s 2021 president. While women only comprise 10% of the construction industry, Martin is the second woman to head the predominantly male electrical and systems contracting industry organization. Martin’s term began on Jan. 1. She has 30 years of corporate and small business experience. Martin became a member of IEC shortly after her business opened its doors in 1993.

Eaton (Pittsburgh, PA): The company named John Vernacchia as the energy transition segment director. This new role strengthens Eaton’s commitment to help customers simplify the energy transition and shift to more sustainable, distributed and bi-directional energy resources through its “Everything as a Grid” approach.

In his new role, Vernacchia will support Eaton’s Everything as a Grid approach to the energy transition, leading renewable, energy storage, microgrid and electric vehicle charging projects. He and his team will support system specification, new product innovation, as well as acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures.

Vernacchia brings 40 years of experience in marketing, sales, product management and operations. He has played a major role in the development of Eaton’s energy transition solutions and was previously the segment manager for renewable energy solutions. Vernacchia is based in Pittsburgh, and reports to Molly Murphy, senior vice president, North American Sales.

Generac Power Systems (Waukesha, WI): Generac recently appointed three executives to new positions and has established a new business organization called Energy Technology (ET), which will consist of all Generac businesses whose primary focus is on products or services related to storage and energy management products.

Russ Minick will lead the ET organization with the title of president, Energy Technology. Under his leadership, the ET team will collaborate with Generac’s business groups to deliver a wide range of clean energy products and services to end-markets globally. Minick will also retain his duties as chief marketing officer, which he has held since 2016.

Patrick Forsythe has been appointed to the newly created position of chief technical officer. He will be responsible for the integration of new and transformative technologies into Generac’s products and building a technical team to further support future technical product development needs. Forsythe has led Generac’s global engineering team since rejoining the company in 2015.

Steve Goran has been appointed chief strategy officer. This new position is tasked with quickly assessing new business opportunities and ventures, while simultaneously formulating long-term strategy and managing year-round strategic planning and development efforts at the company. Goran has more than 30 years of experience with Generac, serving in many roles within the organization.

Hein Electric Supply (West Allis, WI): Ron Reinowski was promoted to VP - Business Development & Lighting. He most recently served as the director of Lighting and National Accounts. He has over 30 years of experience in the industry and was previously a partner in a Milwaukee-based lighting agency. He joined Hein Electric Supply in 2009, growing the company’s lighting business by assembling a dedicated team of professionals with a strategic focus in areas such as controls, design-build assistance, project management and national accounts.

Verozza (Montreal, Quebec): Eric Borden was appointed president and CEO. He has been consulting with the company for most of 2020 and has assisted in bringing the Verozza brand to the North American marketplace. A four-decade veteran of the lighting industry, Borden brings experiences in sales, product development, training and executive management.

His lighting industry career began with the Halo Lighting division of McGraw Edison. He also was with Capri Lighting, Juno Lighting, Sea Gull Lighting and Kichler Lighting. Most recently Borden was president of Pathfinder Consultants, Inc, an electrical industry consulting firm. Selected as the American Lighting Association’s (ALA) Pillar of the Industry in 2014, Borden is well known throughout the lighting community. Verozza is the North American partner of NEKO Lighting, a leading global supplier of lighting products.

Franklin Electric (Fort Wayne, IN): At the company’s recent 2021 Commercial Summit, several employees were recognized for distinction in outstanding performance and customer support in the sales and field service engineering categories. The winners were Salesperson of the Year - Alex Bracht, territory manager – Western Region; Field Service Engineer of the Year - Todd Hofstra, senior field service engineer – Western Region; Team of the Year - Northeast Region – Sales, Field Service, Marketing & Customer Relations - Jim Sacriponte, Bryan Defoe, Dan Kolath, Robert Rufh, Tom Mitchell, Jennifer Ford, Ilse Gallegos, Jim Hartmann, Ryan Horner and Bob McClain.

Electro-Mechanical Corporation (EMC) (Bristol, VA): The supplier of power distribution solutions to domestic and international electric utility, mining and commercial and industrial customers, recently announced the promotion of Jody Dutcher to vice president of sales and marketing.

During her 33-year tenure with EMC, Dutcher has held various management positions, most recently serving as director of utility products. She holds a BA from Tusculum University and strategic marketing certifications from the University of Chicago.

 Eiko (Shawnee, KS): At the Design Light Consortium (DLC), EiKO’s Owen VandeVelde was elected to a second term to represent small lighting manufacturers. The group promotes lighting quality, utility program best practices for lighting energy efficiency, and ongoing opportunities, challenges and potential risks related to advancement of energy-saving lighting technologies.

National Specialty Lighting (Tonawanda, NY): This lighting manufacturer appointed Jeff Porter COO. He has spent more than 30 years in the North American electrical and lighting manufacturing and distribution industry at posts with companies including NSi Industries, NII Northern International, Intermatic and Siemens.