Graybar Electric Co. (St. Louis): Tammy Livers has been named V.P., strategic accounts. She has nearly 18 years of industry experience, most recently serving as V.P. of sales for Eaton’s Residential and Wiring Device Division. In her new assignment, Tammy will lead Graybar’s strategic accounts organization, which focuses on business development, service and support for large, multi-site and global customers.
She previously held sales, management and leadership roles with T&B, Hubbell, Cooper Industries and Eaton and was recognized with the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) Trailblazer Award and the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA) Thomas F. Preston Manufacturer of the Year Award.
Horizon Solutions (Scarborough, Maine, and Rochester, N.Y.): After more than four decades with the company and Oakes Electric Supply, Horizon Solutions’ CEO/president Jim Newton has announced his retirement. He will continue to serve as the chairman of Horizon’s board of directors. As part of the company’s succession plan, Mike Herrmann becomes CEO/president. To support the move, Horizon also announced a series of internal changes intended to streamline its day-to-day operations, positioning the company to accelerate the pursuit of its strategic plan. Horizon named Don Harrington as executive V.P. of operations and information technology; Karen Baker as executive V.P. of product, services and strategic marketing; and David Hayes as executive V.P. of sales and marketing communications. In addition, Kathy Biesecker, senior V.P. of human resources, Bruce France as V.P. of branch operations and Sean Connelly, V.P. of finance will continue to provide key leadership support.
Newton started his career with Oakes Electric in 1973. Oakes and two other distributors — RERO Distribution and Holmes Distributors — joined forces in 2000 to form Horizon Solutions. Newton has been president/CEO of Horizon since 2004. Today, the company has 250 employees and eight locations across New England and New York. Since the consolidation of RERO Distribution, Oakes Electric and Holmes Distributors, the company has positioned itself as a leading provider of automation, electrical, industrial and safety products and services in the Northeast.
Affiliated Distributors (AD) (Wayne, Pa.): David White, president of Shealy Electrical Wholesalers Inc., Greenville, S.C., is now on the marketing/buying group’s board of directors. White said in an AD press release that 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of Shealy Electrical Wholesalers joining AD.
McNaughton-McKay (Madison Heights, Mich.): John (Jack) R. McNaughton III retired at the company on Dec. 31 after 37 years. Jack is the grandson of co-founder John R. McNaughton and was most recently executive V.P. and COO. In related moves at McNaughton-McKay, Scott Sellers has been named executive V.P. of operations and John Kuczmanski is the new executive V.P. and CFO. Sellers has been working with McNaughton for the last year to transition into his new role and has 31 years of experience with McNaughton-McKay. He is a graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in system sciences. Kuczmanski is a graduate of Michigan State University and has been with McNaughton-McKay since 1998, helping to manage the company’s financial assets and interfacing with financial institutions and insurance companies.
Industry Data Exchange Association, Inc. (IDEA) (Arlington, Va.): Barbara Prince, manager, data quality and distributor services has retired after five years with IDEA and 45 years within the electrical channel. She will continue to work as an IDEA consultant with a dedicated focus on IDEA’s Data Certification Program and related data quality initiatives. Following Prince’s retirement, Sherri Thorne has now taken over management of the IDW Data Management Specialist and IDW Data Quality Specialist teams as IDW manager, client services.
Prior to her time with IDEA, Prince began her career in the electrical industry working with Mau-Sherwood Supply, a small industrial distributor in Cleveland, before moving to Carlon/Lamson & Sessions, where she spent 35 years in a number of roles, including data entry, programming, total quality, and electronic data interchange (EDI). She was also responsible for implementing and supporting Carlon’s IDW data. When Thomas & Betts later acquired Lamson, Prince helped with integration and IDW data support efforts. Throughout her career, Prince participated on various industry standards committees to develop EDI standards, packaging guidelines, and bar code guidelines, emphasizing the need for standards in the IDW and in the channel.
Dakota Supply Group (DSG) (Fargo, N.D.): The company promoted Ryan Tracy to sales manager. In this newly created position, Tracy will work with DSG sales personnel in every department and branch, as well as the company’s chief segment officer, to identify and develop areas for growth. He will continue to work out of DSG’s Aberdeen, S.D., branch. Tracy has worked for DSG since 1995, most recently as the plumbing segment manager, and for now he will also retain those responsibilities.
Robroy Industries Conduit Division (Gilmer, Texas): The company recently hired Eric Greear as plant manager. He brings 17-plus years of experience in manufacturing management from the aerospace and consumer products industries and has a degree from Texas A&M University.