Van Meter Named “ESOP Company of the Year”
Van Meter Industrial (VMI), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was named the “2011 ESOP Company
of the Year” by the ESOP Association. (ESOP = employee stock ownership plan.)
VMI is 100% employee owned. Founded in 1928, the electrical distribution company
operates 12 locations.
According to the ESOP Association’s release,
VMI holds several interesting ESOP-related internal events: “Guess the Value
Contest,” in which every employee-owner has a chance to guess the company’s
stock value; an annual ESOP statement roundtable to educate employee-owners
in all locations; and “Work 10 Years and Get 5 Free Years,” which helps employee-owners
understand more about the ESOP and think about their future with the company.
For more on VMI’s history, see this
page on the company website.
Other VMI news: The company was recently honored by United Way of East
Central Iowa for raising $54,009 in 2010—a 21% increase over 2009. More.
Anixter Briefs
- CSIA award—the Control Systems Integrators Association named Anixter
its 2011 “Partner of the Year.” From Mike Durot, vice president of marketing
and inventory management for U.S. Wire & Cable at Anixter: “Industrial
automation is a top priority for our company globally, and being part of CSIA
is integral to our understanding the market better and the needs of the integrator
community.”
- Data centers—Anixter’s 2011 seminar series, on its ipAssured program,
is titled “Converged Infrastructure Solutions for Data Centers.”
- Federal contract—Anixter’s Richmond, Va., operation won a $54,400
contract from the Defense Logistics Agency (May 4) to supply “electrical power
cables.”
- Security installation—a release from Axis Communications highlighted
the installation of a “hosted video surveillance system” from Axia and NAVCO
at the Valero Texas Open, a PGA Tour golf stop golf in San Antonio. According
to the next-to-last paragraph: “Anixter…mutual partner of Axis and NAVCO,
worked closely on the project to provide the necessary cabling and mid-span
devices to transmit the video data and power the cameras.”
Rexel SA News
- Another acquisition in India—having purchased Yantra Automation in
January (release), Rexel recently purchased AD Electronics there. The acquired
company has two branches and 22 employees. Rexel now owns 75% and plans to
buy the balance in 2015.
- Details on acquisitions—here’s the final paragraph from the AD Electronics
acquisition release: After the acquisition of Nortel Suprimentos Industriais
in Brazil, three acquisitions in China (Beijing Lucky Well Zhineng, Wuhan
Rockcenter Automation, and Beijing Zhongheng) and the acquisition in India
of Yantra Automation, this is Rexel’s sixth acquisition in fast-growing markets
in the last six months. The compound annual sales generated by these six companies
in 2010 amounted to around [$277 million].
- Funding—a mid-May private offering of senior unsecured notes that
come due in 2018 reportedly raised nearly $708 million for Rexel SA. Release.
- Hospital Contract—Rexel SA won a contract to supply electrical
supplies and more to Ghent University Hospital in Belgium. Value, according
to a news item: close to $200,000.
- Electrical engineering (related)—Clayton Dubilier & Rice, which
owns a piece of Rexel SA (along with two partners) as well as HD Supply, is
the leader of a group “in exclusive talks” to buy Spie, a French electrical
engineering company, from PAI Partners, according to Bloomberg.com. The price
is said to be around $3 billion.
What WESCO Has Been Up To
- AMI project—AMI = advanced metering infrastructure, which can be
seen as a key early piece of the smart grid. According to a report in Transmission
& Distribution World, Elster will supply Dayton, Tenn., with 8,000
residential and 2,000 commercial smart meters—”along with its regional distribution
partner, WESCO Distribution.”
- Carlton Bates—when Electronic Engineering Times recently named
the “Top 25 Global Franchised Distributors” (ranked by 2010 calendar year
revenue), Carlton-Bates (a WESCO subsidiary) was ranked No. 13. The company
was credited with $338.6 million in 2010 revenue.
- Electric vehicles—according to a mid-April release,
the commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle has created the EZ EV program—in
partnership with Eaton and WESCO Distribution. From Chuck Smith, global account
manager: “Property managers’ clients are asking questions and they need to
have answers. Having this information easily accessible will bring value to
their customers and clients.”
- Stock price—a mid-May report from American Banking News noted that
analysts at Oppenheimer and Citigroup have raised their price targets on WESCO’s
common stock. WCC stock closed on Friday June 3 at $52.51; Oppenheimer’s target
is $64, Citigroup is $70.
Retail Green Watch
Canadian bulb ban—Sears Canada will, by September 2011, “phase
out the sale of incandescent bulbs,” according to the May 31 Calgary Herald
(of Alberta). Instead, the company’s stores will feature LEDs and CFLs. Additionally,
the company will “replace all the spotlights in its Full-Line and Sears Home
stores with LED fixtures.” The same info was reported by CanadianBusiness.com
under a headline that said Sears would be “the first national Canadian retailer
to ban the sale of inefficient incandescent and halogen lighting.”
Beyond talking the talk, Sears Canada is walking the walk, too.
According to the CanadianBusiness.com article, the retailer will pull 130,000
incandescent spotlights out of its own stores and replace them with LEDs.
Ecohaus & Green Depot merge—these companies have come together,
a move which—according to Home
Channel News—“unites three of the four pioneers in the green-building
movement.” Note that the HCN report includes a Q&A with Sarah Beatty,
founder and CEO of Green Depot.
Lowe’s goes solar—the giant retailer has partnered with Sungevity—which,
according to this
CleanEnergyAuthority.com report, offers financing to homeowners for solar
installations. Additionally (according to this Reuters report):
- Sungevity’s “iQuote” program will be offeredin Lowe’s stores in eight states
by this summer.
- Lowe’s made an investment (amount face down) in Sungevity.
© 2012 The Electrical Distributor. All rights reserved.