Electrical Marketing's LiveWire

International Electric Supply Corp., the parent company of Rexel and GexPro, has leased about 92,000 square feet in the former CompUSA building in north Dallas, according to report in the Dallas Morning News The article said the company would be moving from its building on LBJ Freeway in Dallas.

Electrical work will be part of a facility maintenance contract Caris Life Sciences Inc., Phoenix, recently awarded the University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors Inc. (UMEC) subsidiary of EMCOR Group Inc., Norwalk, Conn. UMEC will install the mechanical systems at Caris Life Sciences’ build-out in Phoenix of 30,000 square feet, including a lab, lab support area, office space area, and a 5,000-square-foot mechanical mezzanine. Caris Life Sciences is a provider of diagnostic and pharmaceutical services encompassing anatomic pathology and molecular testing.

Border States Electric (BSE) (Fargo, N.D.) Jason Seger has been appointed V.P.– operations and inventory. He will also serve on the company’s executive council. Seger joined BSE in Nov. 1999 as part of the Utility Marketing team. He has worked as a material requirements planning specialist, sales and marketing coordinator for the utility market, and purchasing manager. In May 2009, he was named director of inventory and operations. In addition to his regular duties, he has played major roles in the company’s integration of acquisitions.
Seger is a member of the Association for Operations Management, the Institute for Supply Management, and Minnesota State University Moorhead’s operations management and industrial technology advisory board.
In other news at the company, Jason Stein has been appointed V.P. of sales and to the company’s executive council. He joined Border States in May 1995 as a part of the management trainee program. He has worked in various positions including product manager, automation account manager, and Northwest region industrial sales manager. In 2009, he was named director of sales.

Acuity Brands, Atlanta, said its 2010 second-quarter sales were down less than one percent YTY despite continuing tough conditions in the nonresidential market. The company had net sales of $383.5 million for the second quarter, down less than one percent compared with the same period a year-ago.
“We continue to see a very challenging economic environment for the remainder of our fiscal year 2010, said Vernon Nagel, the company’s chairman, president and CEO. “Key indicators for our primary market, non-residential construction, continue to signal a decline. Independent third-party forecasts continue to signal that for our fiscal 2010 the year-over-year percentage decline for net sales in the overall markets we serve will be in the mid-teens. Despite these challenges, we continue to see opportunities.
“In addition to our fiscal 2009 acquisitions of Sensor Switch and LC&D, which significantly increased our presence in the growing lighting controls market, we are accelerating investments to create more innovative and energy-efficient products, enhance services to our customers, and expand market presence in key geographies and sectors such as home centers and the renovation and relight market. We believe these strategic initiatives provide growth opportunities which should enable us to outperform the overall markets we serve. Details

Eaton Corp., Cleveland, said the new health care legislation will increase its income tax expense by $25 million through a non-cash, one-time charge taken in the first quarter of 2010. The $25 million charge relates to the write-off of deferred income tax assets because the new law eliminates the non-taxable nature of the retiree drug subsidy received by the company. Although this change in income tax deductibility does not take effect until 2013, Eaton is required to recognize the charge in the first quarter of 2010 when the Act was signed into law. This charge was not considered in guidance for first quarter or full year 2010.

Electrical industry companies looking to get into solar have a growing array of companies to partner with as the technology’s acceptance spreads. Looks like large commercial real estate firms may join the mix, as one of the largest, CB Richard Ellis, announced it’s launching a new business unit, CBRE Solar.

CBRE Solar says it will offer a broad range of solar energy solutions for clients, including solar power purchase agreements, roof leases, advisory services, project development services, project management services and solar project investment opportunities.

From Sustainable Industries

As the lighting industry begins to shift to solid-state, electrical distributors are finding they have a lot of company in getting the products to market. For example, Arrow Electronics, one of the largest electronics distributors, is pushing hard into the lighting sector. In a release today, the Melville, N.Y.-based distributor announced that it will showcase LED lighting design at Lightfair, May 12-14 in Las Vegas. Details.

Springfield Electric Supply Co., Springfield, Ill., will open a location in Davenport, Iowa, on April 12, according to an article in the Quad City Business Journal. The report said the 22,000-square-foot location will have 14 employees and be the company’s first location outside of Illinois. It’s Springfield Electric Supply’s 13th location.

Electrical contractor Cupertino Electric, San Jose, Calif., has promoted Paul Aggarwal to the new position of vice president of pre-construction services. Aggarwal, who was V.P. of estimating, will have an expanded role setting the strategic direction for the company’s pursuit of new projects and will oversee all pre-construction activities. Aggarwal joined Cupertino Electric more than 20 years ago as an estimator. He has a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from San Jose University and a master’s degree in business administration from Santa Clara University. Details.

Lighting Services Inc. (LSI) (Stony Point, N.Y.): Gordon Pevzner has joined the company as regional sales manager for the eastern U. S. A graduate of Ohio State University, he brings more than 30 years of lighting and sales experience to LSI, including work in theatrical lighting design, dimming and controls, lighting specification and calculation services. Gordon has been a member of the Illuminating Engineers Society of North America since 1988, serving as president, V.P. and secretary for the Philadelphia IES section. He has also served for two years as the committee chair of Philadelphia Lights regional trade show and for 10 years on the sectional International Interior Design Association (IIDA) awards committee.