People On the Move - May 30, 2025 Update

News at Mersen, Signify, World Electric, C.N. Robinson and IES Holdings
May 29, 2025
2 min read
Mersen
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Mersen (Newburyport, MA)

Desiree Grace (photo above) was appointed VP-Sales and Customer Care, Americas. She will report to Ferran Sacrest, VP, Global Sales and Customer Care. She brings 30-plus years of broad experience in the Americas electrical & datacom industries. Grace started her career at WESCO, where she held various positions of increasing responsibility to eventually become branch manager.

She has held sales leadership roles at large U.S. manufacturers such as Panduit and Eaton, as well as executive positions at mid-size European manufacturers with a strong presence in the U.S. market, including Flex Wind, CEMBRE and Anamet. In her last role as the General Manager of Flex Wind, she led their entry to the North American market through an acquisition and managed its subsequent integration.

 

Signify (Eindhoven, the Netherlands)

As Tempelman will become the company’s new CEO effective Sept. 1, subject to his appointment to Signify’s board of management, with Željko Kosanović continuing as interim CEO until then.

 As Tempelman currently serves as CEO of Eneco, an integrated sustainable energy company operating throughout the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.

 

C.N. Robinson Lighting Supply (Baltimore, MD)

Angela Schwartz and Robert Hallsky, two long-standing team members, were promoted to VP. The appointments were formally announced during the company’s annual team meeting on April 24.

 

World Electric Supply/Sonepar (Jacksonville, FL

Brandon Cox was appointed to the newly created role of VP-Sales to strengthen efforts to diversify and grow the company's customer base and increase its footprint. Cox, has been with the company for 25 years.

 

IES Holdings Inc. (Houston, TX)

Matthew Simmes, president and chief operating officer, will succeed Jeffrey Gendell as CEO effective July 1. Simmes will continue in his role as president of the company and will join the board of directors. Gendell, who was appointed chairman of the board in 2016 and chief executive officer in 2020, will become executive chairman and will continue to lead the board of directors while working closely with Simmes and the rest of IES’s senior leadership team.

Simmes has spent over 31 years at IES in a variety of increasingly senior roles.