Bulbrite Inc., Moonachie, N.J., has announced the appointment of Cathy Choi to president and Andrew Choi, the former president, to chairman. Ms. Choi previously served as vice president and Mr. Choi was the company’s founder, president and CEO for the past 38 years. Prior to joining Bulbrite, Choi was a director of finance and operations for Independent Pictures, a division of New Line Cinema and an auditor for Price Waterhouse. She is an American Lighting Association (ALA)-certified Lighting Specialist, a member of the Education Foundation and Manufacturers Steering Committee for the ALA, a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) and an active member of Cornell alumni associations. She has a MBA from New York University and a BA from Cornell University.
Archive for October, 2009
Bulbrite Appoints Cathy Choi To President
Reel-O-Matic and Tulsa Power Merge
Two leading U.S. manufacturers of reel handling equipment for processing and distributing cable, wire and other flexible materials have merged. Tulsa Power Holdings Corp and Reel-O-Matic Inc. will maintain manufacturing facilities in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma respectively. All key personnel will remain the same at each location, with Terry Simmons as president of Reel-O-Matic, and Mike Spence as CEO of Tulsa Power.
The companies manufacture shafted and shaftless take-up and payout machinery, high speed spoolers, coiling equipment, caterpullers and specialize in the design and development of customized handling equipment for manufacturers and distributors of wire and cable, wire rope, pipe, hose and tubing, telecommunications, utilities, mining, shipbuilding, drilling contractors, oilfield service contractors and defense related industries.
Paper: T&B to close Cleveland Carlon plant
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a story this morning about Thomas & Betts closing a plant it acquired in the purchase of Lamson & Sessions in 2007. The story says 117 people will lose their jobs.
General Cable sales down 25 percent
General Cable Corp., Highland Heights, Ky., reported third-quarter sales of $1,081.8 million, a decrease of $362.6 million, or 25.1%, compared to the third quarter of 2008 on a metal-adjusted basis. Volume based on metal pounds sold, without the impact of incremental volume from acquired businesses, decreased 20.5% in the third quarter of 2009 compared to 2008, and was down 7.3% compared to the second quarter of 2009. Operating income was down 59.3%.
“As we look forward, we expect the developing economies we serve to perform relatively better than the developed economies of the world. Business conditions in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia are being buoyed by commodities, mining and infrastructure investment, aided by somewhat better credit markets,” said Greg Kenny, CEO. “In the U.S., we expect continuing declines in non-residential construction spending as well as a residential construction market that will recover slowly.”
Kenny continues, “Finally, with industrial companies in the United States using less electricity for the last two years, we do not expect electric utility spending on the distribution network to increase next year in any meaningful way. However, we do expect the U.S. transmission and wind farm segments to begin to improve as the Stimulus Bill begins to gain traction over the next year.”
New VPs at Kirby Risk
Kirby Risk Electrical Supply, Lafayette, Ind., announced that Frank Gardner, formerly with Siemens and Rockwell Automation, has joined the company as vice president of industrial sales. Kyle Krizan, who has been with Kirby Risk since 2004, is now vice president of marketing and contractor sales.
Gardner was regional manager, Northeast region, for Siemens Energy & Automation based out of the company’s Boston offices, and before that spent 24 years with Rockwell Automation. He’ll now be responsible for developing sales strategy for Kirby Risk’s industrial and automation sales force as well as sales efforts of Kirby Risk Mechanical Solutions and Service.
Krizan began with the company as area sales manager for central and northern Illinois and most recently was director of contractor sales. He’ll be developing and implementing sales strategies in the contractor market as well as overseeing the marketing organization for both industrial and contractor markets.
Residential PV Installations Cheaper in the Garden State than in California? Go Figure…
A recent AP report had some interesting comparisons of the price of installing a 5kW residential PV system in different states. (According to information on the website of MC Engineering, a California-based solar installer, a 5kW Solar PV System reliably powers a 2,500-square-foot home, producing an estimated 8,880 kWh of electric power per year).
The price for that 5kW system varies wildly depending on local utility rebates and state financing programs and tax rebates. For instance, according to the AP article, a New Jersey homeowner would only pay $2,625 for that PV system (original sticker price of $37,500), factoring in a state tax rebate of $8,750 from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ Clean Energy Program, a federal tax credit of $8,625, and a loan program through the Public Service Enterprise Group that’s worth up to $17,500 for customers with excellent credit, according to Rumson, N.J.-based installer Gaurav Naik.
In contrast, a homeowner in Arkansas would pay $35,000, after he or she factors in a $15,000 federal tax credit into the $50,000 price, according to Bob Moore, a solar panel dealer in Ft. Smith, Ark. In California, that same system would cost $22,610. The AP article said according to Foster City, Calif.-based installer Solar City, the original $40,000 sticker price would be cut after applying a federal tax credit of $9,690 and a rebate through Southern California Edison.
Sonepar to combine Capital Lighting and Tristate organizations
Sonepar USA and Hagemeyer North America, both subsidiaries of Paris-based Sonepar, announced that they will be combining high-profile pieces of their operations in the Mid-Atlantic region into a single business.
Sonepar USA’s Capital Lighting and Supply, headquartered in Upper Marlboro, Md., and Hagemeyer NA’s Tristate Electrical and Electronics Supply Co., formerly based in Hagerstown, Md., will operate as a single unit to be led by John Hardy, president of CLS.
For the immediate future, the locations will continue to operate under their existing Capital Lighting and Supply, Hagemeyer NA, or Tristate names. Combined, the new organization will offer services from over 46 locations across Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia, said a joint press release.
“This is our first formal partnership endeavor since Hagemeyer North America joined the Sonepar family in 2008,” says Paul Klasing, President of Sonepar USA. “Because we had two strong, successful companies, some in overlapping markets, the decision to merge the companies was an easy one.”
Vision Control & Automation expands to Indy
Vision Control & Automation, a ten-year-old unit of Standard Electric Supply, Milwaukee, has acquired the Indianapolis location of Ohio-based distributor Richards Electric.
“Vision’s goal as an electrical distributor is not only to deliver quality products on time, but also to help customers reduce their overall operating costs and increase productivity,” said Larry Stern, president of both Vision and Standard Electric, in a press release. “Our new Indianapolis location also establishes Vision’s commitment to become the Midwest’s leading distributor of ABB products.”
Northwire Promotes Katina Kravik to CEO
Northwire Inc. – Technical Cable (Osceola, Wis.): Katina Kravik has been promoted to CEO. She is the third generation in her family to own and lead the privately held 37-year old company, as her grandfather, Ormund Kravik, founded Northwire in 1972, and her father, Mark Kravik, led the company for more than 30 years. Northwire manufactures technical and retractile cables for applications in the industrial, energy, life sciences, government, machine vision, lighting and underwater market segments.
EMCOR Nails NASA Contract
EMCOR Group Inc., Norwalk, Conn., has received a contract from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center for facilities operations and maintenance services at the Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California and at the NASA facilities in Palmdale, California. Details
