Supplier News

ABB Installation Products Names SVP of Sales for U.S.

Deni Miller has been named senior vice president, installation product sales, electrification U.S. at ABB Installation Products.

Miller will lead the installation products sales organization as it continues to focus on driving digitization and customer relations, along with distribution strategies.

Most recently, Miller served as senior vice president, marketing and sales, electrical distribution and as the U.S. leader of ABB’s Encompass Women employee resource group (ERG).

For more information, visit electrification.us.abb.com.

Building Strong Leadership at Cerrowire

Cerrowire announced two leadership promotions in the sales and marketing team.

Toby Robin steps into the role of vice president of sales and marketing, providing strategic direction to both the electrical distribution and retail distribution channels as Cerrowire continues to strongly grow its business in both sectors.

Robin joined Cerrowire in 2014 as the business development manager for the Eastern U.S. In his new role leading the sales and marketing organization, Robin will continue to create avenues for developing successful business relationships with Cerrowire’s customers through innovative products, services, and programs that address evolving construction industry needs.

Chris Marlow was recently promoted to the position of vice president of Electrical Distribution. He joined Cerrowire as the director of strategic accounts for the Electrical Distribution channel in 2020.

In other company news, Cerrowire recently promoted the impact of TigerLaunch, an apprenticeship-style high school program for Alabama workforce development.

Cerrowire has participated in TigerLaunch since it started in 2018. Four students were placed in production positions at the Hartselle plant the first year and the number of participants grew to seven in the 2020-2021 school year. Cerrowire has employed 20 students as a part of the ”earn and learn” program. TigerLaunch participants attend high school classes and work at least one four-hour shift daily depending on their school schedule. The program has grown each year to encompass other school districts and more than 60 students.

For more information, visit cerrowire.com.

LEDVANCE Promotes Charlie Harte

LEDVANCE LLC recently announced Charlie Harte as the company’s vice president of marketing and customer experience. This is an addition to Harte’s role as Canada President and CEO for LEDVANCE LLC, which he took over in February 2020.

A 30-year industry veteran, Harte is skilled in sales, negotiation, talent development, strategic planning, business development and marketing strategy.

For more information, visit ledvance.com.

Milbank Names Vice President of Sales

Milbank Manufacturing recently announced the promotion of Adrienne Sander to vice president of sales. Sander joined Milbank in 2019, serving as north central regional sales manager before becoming director of sales and then to her most recent role of general manager of sales, enclosed controls and core products.

As vice president of sales, Sander will lead the sales team in growing market share, increasing profitability for Milbank products while working to expand Milbank’s reach in new and existing markets.

For more information, visit milbankworks.com.

NSI Industries Announces New Additions to Sales Team

NSI Industries LLC recently announced two new additions to its sales team. Brian Knoup has taken the role of vice president of national accounts while Keith Babcock has become the new national accounts manager. In these positions, Babcock will report to Knoup.

For the past nine years Knoup, based in Nashville, worked at ABB Inc. where he was a regional manager for its south central region managing a sales team focused on selling multiple ABB business unit’s products and solutions, which included Thomas & Betts products.

Babcock, based in Newburyport, Massachusetts, spent the past eight years working for ABB Inc. as a district and regional manager in the northeast.

For more information, visit nsiindustries.com.

SATCO Announces New Leaders

SATCO Products Inc. recently welcomed a number of new members to its executive, sales and corporate teams, accommodating for growth and advancement throughout the organization.

Ben Tuminello has been named SATCO’s new director of e-commerce. Tuminello has worked in the home goods industry for more than 20 years. Leveraging his wealth of industry knowledge, Tuminello’s responsibilities at SATCO will include creating sales and marketing strategies that forge new growth and opportunities within the e-commerce channel.

Karsten Fetten joins the product management and development team as the new vice president of product management, LED luminaires and lamps. He will play an integral role in defining and creating SATCO’s future product portfolio strategy.

Fetten has nearly 30 years of global lighting experience working for industry leaders including Osram/Sylvania and Ledvance. He brings deep and well-rounded experience to this role and will join the SATCO team at its Headquarters in New York.

At the Satco Washington location, Nick Kononov, who has been at that branch for 13 years, will be taking over the role of regional sales manager for Tom Woltjer as he retires this August to Arizona with his wife, Carol. Woltjer has been with SATCO for nine years. He will be missed as he confidently passes the torch to Kononov, who has been working closely with Woltjer throughout his time in Washington.

Melinda Bledsoe joins the corporate team as the new import analyst and product data manager. Previously with Sylvania and Ledvance, Bledsoe brings with her 24 years of lighting industry experience, including previous roles as export control and customs-logistics analyst, customer solution leader, international export ocean/air and senior customer service representative.

Alan Karen, senior vice president of global sales, recently announced a number of new additions to his expanding sales team. Jarrod Steward is SATCO’s new eastern and central sales manager, Canada. Based in Kaneohe, Hawaii, Sean Bakey is SATCO’s sales manager for the Aloha State. In Washington, Douglas Brown brings 30 years of sales experience in the lighting and electrical wholesale industry to SATCO. Thomas Davey joins the SATCO team as the Dallas, Texas regional sales manager. Rounding out the new additions, Justin Connell joins SATCO’s Texas team as a senior sales representative.

For more information, visit satco.com.

Signify Appoints New Vice President

Signify appointed Christy Tilton as vice president of U.S. professional trade sales. Reporting to Keith Eagle, vice president and general manager of Signify’s U.S. professional business, she will be responsible for agent partnerships and supporting our professional customers’ lighting needs. She will also directly lead Midwest regional sales.

Based out of Phoenix, Arizona, she most recently served as senior vice president, installation products within ABB’s Electrification business.

For more information, visit signify.com.

OmniCable Acquires Houston Wire and Cable Company

OmniCable has acquired Houston Wire and Cable Company (HWCC).

The combined company results in a national wire and cable redistribution industry leader that will maximize OmniCable’s and HWCC’s highly complementary businesses, products and national footprint to better meet the needs of both companies’ customers. The combined company also will continue Vertex, HWCC’s fastener redistribution business. The company will retain both brands and its existing locations.

For more information, visit omnicable.com.

Acuity Acquires Rockpile Ventures

Acuity Brands Inc. has acquired Rockpile Ventures, a Seattle-based accelerator of early-stage artificial intelligence (AI) companies.

Peter Han, co-founder of Rockpile Ventures, has been named president of Acuity’s newly named Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). Formerly referred to as Acuity’s Intelligent Buildings business, ISG includes Atrius and Distech Controls. Han has a track record of delivering change and revenue growth through 25 years in the technology industry. He will lead ISG teams based in Atlanta, Montreal, San Francisco and Seattle.

Rockpile co-founder Dinesh Narayanan is now vice president of business development of ISG. The addition of these leaders and the acquisition of Rockpile Ventures better positions Acuity for growth in solutions, software and cloud application development. Narayanan was formerly head of Microsoft’s devices incubation group, where he partnered with Azure and AI engineering, marketing and business development teams to build out edge solutions. He worked with cross-functional groups creating the markets for autonomous systems and ambient sensors.

Acuity now holds Rockpile’s equity interests in AI startups. Rockpile’s portfolio technologies have been deployed at leading enterprises across the energy, manufacturing, and retail verticals.

For more information, visit acuitybrands.com.

GE Current Opens New Distribution Center

GE Current, a Daintree Company, announced the opening of a new distribution center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. With the addition of this location to its growing distribution network, Current will be able to provide same-day and next-day service to more of its lighting and controls customers.

Located at 221 S. 10th Street in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, the 150,000-square-foot facility now stocks a robust offering from Current’s portfolio of solutions and will ramp up to full operations in the coming weeks. In addition to rapid shipping, the customer-focused center offers will-call service for electric distributors and contractors.

In other company news, GE Current, a Daintree company (Current), has acquired Forum Inc., a privately held, Pittsburgh-based architectural linear luminaire company with a 50-plus-year record of high-quality exceptional products and proven manufacturing capabilities. Forum has manufactured lighting for numerous landmark projects, including the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City, Cleveland Clinic and the Roberto Clemente Bridge in Pittsburgh.

This transaction expands Current’s architectural portfolio and customization capability, and the additional U.S.-based manufacturing provides greater breadth to its product portfolio for the architectural community. Forum will be able to leverage Current’s innovation, capabilities and patents to help fuel future growth for the brand.

For more information, visit gecurrent.com.

nVent Acquires Vynckier Enclosures

nVent Electric plc announced that it has acquired substan- tially all the assets of Vynckier Enclosure Systems Inc.

The Vynckier product line is now part of nVent’s Enclosures business segment.

A customer-first focused business based in Houston, Texas, Vynckier Enclosure Systems Inc. produces high-quality non-metallic enclosures, and has approximately 80 employees, primarily supporting the manufacturing process.

The acquisition expands the nVent HOFFMAN portfolio with highly complementary Vynckier non-metallic enclosures and Soltection solar solutions, particularly in high growth verticals and applications, including solar, utilities and 5G where non-metallic enclosures are ideal because they are lightweight, enable wireless signals, and provide advanced protection for outdoor corrosive environments.

The expanded nVent HOFFMAN product line now offers one of the most comprehensive portfolios of non-metallic enclosures and customization services, paired with experienced technical sales representatives, and quick availability through local distributors.

For more information, visit nvent.com.

Nucor to Build New Tube Mill in Kentucky

Nucor Corp. announced that it will build its new tube mill on the site of its Nucor Steel Gallatin sheet mill in Kentucky. This location will allow the company to take advantage of investments the company has made to expand capacity of the Gallatin mill and add a galvanizing line. The $164 million investment project is expected to be in operation by the middle of 2023 and create more than 70 new full-time jobs.

The new tube mill will have the capacity to produce approximately 250,000 tons of hollow structural section (HSS) steel tubing, mechanical steel tubing and galvanized solar torque tube. The Kentucky location puts the new tube mill near expanding solar markets in the United States and the largest consuming regions for HSS steel tubing.

For more information, visit nucor.com.

Milwaukee Tool to Expand Corporate Operations

Milwaukee Tool announced the expansion of its corporate operations into downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company’s current global headquarters in Brookfield, Wisconsin will remain the central location for the company’s corporate operations. This new expansion will provide increased space to accommodate the company’s rapid growth. Anticipated to open in October, this building will house 1,200 employees within the next three years.

Milwaukee will invest more than $30 million to purchase and renovate a vacant 333,000-square-foot building in downtown Milwaukee. This building will act as an extension of the company’s global headquarters in Brookfield. Milwaukee Tool’s initial plans include housing at least 1,210 employees at this location within the next 3 years; however, the company has the option to expand the office space by adding 150,000-square-feet, for up to an additional 790 employees.

By the end of 2021, the company will have more than 3,100 employees located in Wisconsin.

For more information, visit milwaukeetool.com.

CANTEX Launches Major Capital Investment Program

In an effort to help offset the historical challenges currently impacting PVC electrical manufacturers, CANTEX Inc. recently launched a major capital investment program. After experiencing disruptions to production caused by the pandemic, hurricanes, a record-breaking cold front in Texas, as well as resin shortages, CANTEX began investing in increased production capacity at its facilities nationwide to help overcome unavoidable slowdowns.

CANTEX expects that the multi-million-dollar investment will also help position them to meet the product demand resulting from major increases in PVC electrical pipe and fittings sales in recent years. With continued projections for increased demand in the foreseeable future, the investment into new equipment is essential to service the growth of existing customers and to prepare for projected demand from new business.

New molding machines, high-speed automation equipment, and a state-of-the-art computer system designed to improve speed from order entry to product delivery and protect from cyberattacks are all part of the capital investment plan for improving production and customer service levels. The new equipment is expected to improve production speed to keep up with the increased demand for CANTEX’s American-made PVC electrical pipe, fittings and boxes.

The new equipment will increase capacity for the production of PVC electrical pipe, fittings and boxes at CANTEX manufacturing plants nationwide. As part of the investment plan, CANTEX also increased staff at manufacturing facilities to help with the additional capacity.

For more information, visit cantexinc.com.

Leviton Partners with Electrical Training Alliance

Leviton’s commitment to the ETA brings physical and intellectual resources including the Leviton Wiring Device Identification and Installation Program, a new educational component of the alliance’s blended learning model. The program will include instruction beyond basic installation such as wireless communications and protocols, programming, and more. Its subject matter will be conveyed utilizing 3-D illustrations, video segments and hands-on instruction. All alliance apprentices and training centers will have access to the assets and resources provided by Leviton, which include:

• Wiring device endowments and training kits for regional alliance chapters known as Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees (JATCs). Each kit demonstrates features and installation requirements.
• Factory technical support provided at the local level to regional JATCs.
• Support to the alliance’s National Training Institute (NTI) held annually at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
• $5,000 Scholarship grant to a deserving NTI Graduate as part of the alliance’s Advanced Studies Program.
• Financial support of NTI logistics and operations.
• Site use at Leviton Live Experience Centers for alliance personnel. Access offers the opportunity for the alliance to conduct regional meetings as well as experiential learnings with cutting-edge electrical equipment installed in real-world applications.

For more information, visit leviton.com.

Southwire Supplies Offshore Wind Project, Signs Renewable Energy Agreement

Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc. and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), recently announced that Southwire will be a key supplier for the design, manufacturing and installation of the onshore cables for Vineyard Wind 1, a project that’s slated to be the first commercial-scale wind farm in the United States.

Southwire’s facility in Huntersville, North Carolina will manufacture 32 miles of high-voltage cable for the onshore portion of Vineyard Wind 1. Built in 2012, the plant consists of a 250,000-square-foot facility, featuring state-of-the-art technology for producing high-voltage and extra high-voltage underground transmission cables, ranging from 69kV to 500kV. Helping to strengthen North America’s power transmission infrastructure, these cables transfer massive amounts of electricity and renewable energy in support of the nation’s smart grid initiative.

Southwire also announced that it has entered into a long-term renewable energy certificate (REC) purchase agreement with Constellation through which Southwire will match approximately 33% of its annual electricity use with RECs sourced from the Rayos del Sol solar project in Cameron County, Texas. Each REC represents the environmental

attributes associated with one megawatt-hour of solar energy generated by the Rayos del Sol project and delivered onto the electricity grid.

Southwire’s commitment is expected to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions associated with its energy use by more than 80,000 metric tons each year, the equivalent of removing more than 17,000 passenger vehicles from the road in one year, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates. The deal will also contribute to Southwire’s aggressive carbon zero goal to eliminate or offset all its scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2025.

For more information, visit southwire.com.

Keystone Technologies Expands Keystone Live!

Keystone Technologies has expanded the scope of Keystone Live!, its interactive demonstration, with a new, experiential space located at the company’s headquarters in Lansdale, near Philadelphia. The recently opened hall offers distributors, OEMs, contractors, sales agents and other members of the lighting community a vision of what “Light Made Easy”—the company motto—can mean.

The newly opened center blends design and function into a truly unique experience, offering customers a way to get hands-on knowledge of Keystone products and their applications with live presenters and demonstrations. Keystone also offers Keystone Live! On Tour, a fleet of mobile demonstration vehicles that travel the country providing customized events for clients at the locale of

their choice.

Keystone Live! includes creative displays of Keystone’s range of commercial and residential solutions in four primary product categories:

• Lamps. Keystone offers a wide range of LED lamps, including linear, HID replacement, compact LED, A-shape, decorative, spotlight, PAR and reflector styles.
• Fixtures. Keystone’s popular lines of indoor and outdoor fixtures are ideal for upgrading to energy-efficient LED technology. Many are available with SKU-reducing Power and Color Select technology, which allows distributors to cut down on stocking and contractors to adapt to end users’ preferences by adjusting power/intensity and color temperature with the flick of a switch.
• Power supplies. Keystone power supplies were the first products manufactured when the company was founded in 1945. Today, reliable LED drivers and emergency battery backup solutions, which power a range of products, remain the bedrock of the business.
• Controls. With second-generation, field-installable screw-in motion sensors, which install in seconds, or wired PIR, microwave and daylight sensors, Keystone has controls that make commissioning and adjusting light easy and effortless.

The space is fully functional and equipped with an array of audiovisual equipment to bring the sensation of in-person attendance to clients anywhere in the world. The center is also open to customers who follow COVID protocols, and guests are welcome to schedule meetings on site.

In other company news, Keystone Technologies teamed up with Zappos, the online retailer, in sponsoring a Soles4Souls shoe drive during April and May. Over the two months, the drive collected more than 175 pairs of shoes including loafers, lace-ups, mules and high-tops.

Soles4Souls is a nonprofit that has a variety of programs utilizing shoes and clothing, including distribution to those in need, small business assistance and recycling. Zappos helps coordinate collection by shipping and vetting donations, as well as offering merchant support.

For more information, visit keystonetech.com.

An Illuminating 75 Years for Westinghouse Lighting

Westinghouse Lighting is celebrating 75 years in the lighting manufacturing industry. Originally founded as Angelo Brothers, the company has been family-owned since its creation in 1946.

The original Angelo Brothers, Romolo and Stanley Angelo, seized the opportunity to go into business together after WWII. While any business experiences bright upturns and dim downturns, the company has enjoyed steady growth over the years.

The current company leader attributes this long-term success to the company’s core values of excellent customer service, quality products, and sustainability. “My father [Romolo Angelo] used to say, ‘Give the customer the edge,’” said Ray Angelo, president and CEO. “This sound advice has taken us from a mail-order lamp parts catalog business based in South Philadelphia to a global company with a full line of ceiling fans, lighting fixtures, light bulbs and accessories.”

In 2003, the company rebranded as Westinghouse Lighting through a license agreement with Westinghouse Electric Corp. This agreement allowed the company to solidify its business in the United States and helped to expand opportunities in international markets, as the Westinghouse brand name is well-known worldwide and has symbolized quality and innovation for years.

Westinghouse Lighting has U.S. offices in Philadelphia and Chino, California. Additionally, the company has international offices in Germany, China and Hong Kong. Looking ahead, Westinghouse Lighting is poised for a bright future. The third generation of Angelo family members has joined the company and is ready to carry on the company’s legacy. “We plan to approach our next 75 years the same as we have our first 75,” said Angelo, “by using innovation and opportunities to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers and to continue to build a prosperous and sustainable business upon the foundation laid down brick-by-brick by Romolo and Stanley, the Angelo Brothers.”

For more information, visit westinghouselighting.com.

Hammond Power Solutions Acquires Mesta Electronics

Heammond Power Solutions Inc. (HPS) has acquired a 100% equity ownership of Mesta Electronics Inc., a company in the United States involved in the design and manufacture of standard and custom active filter and induction heating products.

HPS would like to welcome the Mesta organization and looks forward to its collaborative success in power quality solutions.

For more information, visit americas.hammondpowersolutions.com.