Combined, the new organization will offer services from over 46 locations across Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. For the immediate future, the locations will continue to operate under their existing Capital Lighting, Hagemeyer or Tristate brands. The move is part of a broader consolidation of the Sonepar USA and Hagemeyer NA businesses into a single entity. “This was always going to happen, but the economy maybe pushed it along a little faster,” Hardy told Electrical Marketing.

Industrial Control Vendor Moeller Electric Now Called CopperLogic
Moeller industrial control products will now be represented exclusively in the United States and Canada by CopperLogic Inc. (Ltd.). The company currently sells through a network of 600-plus distributors in the United States and Canada. In the North American market, Moeller (formerly known as Klockner Moeller) had developed a niche selling IEC-rated industrial controls and related components.

According to a company press statement, CopperLogic plans to expand its lineup immediately by introducing CopperLogic branded control products that complement the Moeller brand, and continue to manufacture and market motor control centers and custom control panels, as well as support Moeller’s large installed base of these products.

Moeller’s U.S. and Canadian sales organizations were sold to CopperLogic’s present management group five years ago, and were not part of Eaton Corp.’s 2008 acquisition of Moeller GmbH, said Ben Orr, CopperLogic’s director of marketing communications. Led by John Hamm, an industrial controls market veteran and former president of Sprecher + Schuh’s U.S. operations, the management team purchased the existing inventory on hand, a few fixed assets and the right to exclusively represent the Moeller brand in the United States and Canada.

Electrical Wholesaling's 2010 Forecast Calls for Minimal Market Growth
Battered, bruised and at times a bit dazed, the electrical industry has almost made it through 2009’s house of horrors. It’s been a year of record sales declines, round after round of layoffs and market turmoil the likes of which the industry greybeards have never seen. It will all be something you can tell your grandkids about if they come into the family business — or never, ever tell them if you want them to stay with the company or sleep through the night.

However, it now feels like the electrical market has found or is near a bottom and that business will start creeping back to respectability within the next two quarters. Sales of electrical products through electrical distributors will increase by approximately $2.2 billion next year. This forecast puts U.S. sales for 2010 at $77.5 billion, a 2.9-percent increase from EW’s 2009 estimate of $75.3 billion, (a level of sales last seen in 2005). That 2009 sales figure is a 14.4 percent drop from 2008, one of the largest one-year decreases in industry history.

Philips Licenses LED Technology to Acuity
As sales of LED lighting products continue to grow by an estimated 30 percent annually, lighting manufacturers are quickly pairing up in unique licensing agreements. Over the past year, Philips, Eindhoven, Netherlands, has announced five different licensing arrangements with lighting fixture manufacturers that want to use its LED lamp technology.

Announced on Oct. 22, the most recent agreement linked Philips with Acuity Brands Inc., Atlanta, and will give Acuity access to Philips’ LED-based patent portfolio. The agreement will apply to worldwide sales of LED-based luminaires developed and marketed by all of the Acuity Brands businesses. Through the agreement, Acuity Brands will be able to incorporate Philips’ patented technologies related to the development and digital control of LED systems for general lighting, architectural and theatrical applications.

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, Okla., 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.

People On The Move
Carl Brand Takes on New Role at USESI
USESI Inc. (Exton, Pa.): Carl Brand is now V.P. of vendor relations and will retain his current responsibilities as the president of Electrical Wholesalers and Standard Electric Supply of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. He has more than 30 years of industry experience and an expertise in central distribution center (CDC) operations and procurement.

Cathy Choi Now President at Bulbrite
Bulbrite Inc.,(Moonachie, N.J.): Cathy Choi is now president and Andrew Choi, the former president, was appointed 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.

Obituaries
Founder of Tampa's Electric Supply Inc. Passes On
George Morgan Adams, Sr., founder of Electric Supply Inc., Tampa., Fla., passed away on Oct. 25. He was born in Jemison, Ala., came to Tampa in 1936, enlisted in the U.S. Navy during W.W. II and served as a radioman on a PBY seaplane. After a 24-year career with Florida Electric, he founded Electric Supply Inc. in 1970. Until his recent illness, Adams was active in his church, community and business.

He received various business honors including the first Florida Family Business of the Year Award and an official visit and award from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans. Adams was a leader in numerous community organizations, serving as an elder at Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, president and lifetime member of the Tampa Jaycees, and exalted ruler of the Tampa Elks Club. He is preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Pauline, and is survived by his son George, Jr., president, Electric Supply Inc., and his daughter Sandra Brock.