Border States (Fargo, ND)
Jason Seger (in photos) has been named president and CEO of Border States following the retirement of David White. Seger joined Border States in 1999 and has served in various roles at the company’s Branch Support Center (corporate office) in Fargo and at branch locations. With more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles, he has helped lead Border States through multi-billion dollar growth with a track record of developing organizational talent and empowering employee-owners to succeed.
David White retired on March 31. White began his career in the electrical industry with a degree in engineering from Ohio University and roles with Cooper Industries (now Eaton) and Square D (Schneider Electric), before joining the team at Shealy Electrical.
During his years with Shealy, White worked alongside leaders, including Bill DeLoache and Brent Spear, as the family-owned company grew into 17 locations in North and South Carolina, conducting business both in the United States and abroad. When Shealy began considering an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for their employees, conversations with Tammy Miller, former Border States CEO, eventually led to Shealy’s acquisition and White joining Border States.
During his time as CEO, White led Border States through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and numerous opportunities for continued growth. Border States also grew through acquisition during White’s leadership, with Advance Electrical Supply, Sequel Electrical Supply and Winston Engineering becoming part of the company, and the upcoming acquisition of Dominion Electric Supply Co.
Capital Electric/Sonepar (Charleston, SC)
Brendan O’Hare is now president of Capital Electric, which serves contractors, builders and end users throughout Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia with over 70 branch locations and 1,000 associates.
He joins Sonepar having spent his career at Pentair, Gexpro, U.S. Electrical and, most recently, Rexel USA, where he served as senior VP of the Gulf Division. O’Hare holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Stockton University.
In 2021, Sonepar announced that Capital Electric had surpassed the $1 billion mark in sales. Two years later, Capital opened the doors to its new 363,000-sq-ft, central distribution center in Upper Marlboro, MD.
OmniCable (West Chester, PA)
Shaire McGrath was appointed senior director – Category Management, where she will oversee and optimize the company’s product categories to drive growth, profitability and customer satisfaction. McGrath has more than 24 years of leadership experience in sales and project management.
Most recently, she was the senior manager, Central and West Region for Seagate Technology, a provider of precision-engineered data storage and management solutions. Previously, she served as VP of Supply Chain and Network Services at KGPCo; and VP of Global Business Development at Raycap. McGrath also held similar positions with CommScope and AVAYA.
The company also announced key appointments within its newly-formed Communications Business Unit in support of its Broadband market segment.
The appointments include:
•Kimberly Cruz, director of sales operations — Broadband
•Ray Hunt, senior director of strategic accounts — Broadband.
•Aaron Whyrick, senior director of strategic accounts — Broadband
•Josh East, outside sales manager — Broadband
•Ed Chavez, outside sales manager — Broadband
Cruz has more than 27 years of experience in the fiber cable industry, spending her entire career with Alcatel/Draka/Prysmian Group in the Claremont, NC, facility. Her experience includes manufacturing, training, inside sales management, and product line management.
Hunt has more than 23 years of experience in the broadband industry. Prior to OmniCable, he started his career with Alcatel’s Optical Fiber Division (became Draka) and after 10 years as a regional sales manager, spent eight years with Graybar’s broadband sales division as the director of sales-Western region. In his most recent position, Hunt was director of regional sales-West for Clearfield.
Whyrick began his broadband career at Level 3 Communications before joining Corning’s carrier sales team, where he served as regional sales manager for six years. With more than 25 years of industry experience, his most recent role was VP of Sales for Adams Cable.
East began his career at Comstar Supply, a national communications distributor, and has nearly 10 years of broadband sales experience. Most recently, he served as the outside sales manager at INNO Instrument.
Chavez has more than 26 years of datacom and outside plant experience. He has held numerous sales and new business development positions throughout his career, most recently as branch manager for WESCO Datacom/Security.
In other news at OmniCable, Jim Walsh tis now the company’s sales manager for Toronto. He has over 40 years of experience in the electrical industry and has been with OmniCable for five years. Most recently, he was OmniCable’s Toronto account manager.
Also in the Canadian market, Georgia Sipsis is now OmniCable’s national sales manager-Canada. In this role, Sipsis is responsible for overseeing all Canadian sales. “Georgia has been a vital member of the OmniCable Canada team and has made significant contributions cultivating and creating new customer relationships across Ontario and eastern Canada, helping grow our Canadian sales,” said Ian Rand, Canadian regional manager, in the press release. Sipsis initially joined the company in 2022 and has over 20 years of experience in the Canadian electrical industry.