Latest NewsRoom Articles
What’s going on among electrical distributors in Canada, Germany, Mexico, and South Africa? You’ll know after reading Distributor News, which also includes items on eight U.K. distributors and answers the following: What’s a Vend-O-Palooza?; What are new, larger distribution centers doing for Interline Brands?; and, Would Jeremy Grantham buy the stock of MSC Industrial Direct?
With 21 items on green suppliers, Manufacturer News provides information on the application of the Westinghouse name in the solar biz, who is installing EV charging stations across Canada, and an electrical company that has initiated a “Cradle-to-Cradle” program for its products. Also: Where some of the stimulus money went and a couple of lawsuits in the solar biz.
It’s tough out there in the contracting business, which may be why Channel News has reports on four acquisitions—and one electrical contractor with “negative” change order dollar volume on a school job in Pennsylvania.
This week, we remember Past NAED Chair John Waltersdorf, who passed on Sept. 2.
Also in People News: Legrand has a new vice
president of green, Leviton promotes two, and Lighting Supply adds a sales
manager.
What did NEMA and its members (26 signatures from executives) tell big-box retailers about electrical product safety standards? And which of those retailers is now selling an LED bulb (on its website) for $19.97? Also in Distributor News: details about federal contracts for electrical products, most of them let to distributors; and a look at lighting retailing, including a brouhaha concerning vintage light bulbs.
Manufacturer News includes some details on Honeywell’s purchase of E-Mon—did you know it’s the third time E-Mon has changed hands in the 2000s? Also: CommScope invests in a fuel cell producer; news on two Tycos; Lumenergi gets $12.7 million in VC money (that’s not the Viet Cong); USI’s revenue plummets, thanks to the loss of a big customer; Hubbell moves; Carlo Gavazzi is greener than thou; and much more.
China (which other country would it be?) dominates a spate of info from foreign shores in Channel News, including its EV plans, an investment of $738 billion in green companies, and the forced shut down of 2,087 polluting companies. Other places represented: Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and Tasmania.
In People News, a Canadian ascends to EASA’s top elected spot, a 90-year-old is recognized (for 50 years at Shealy), and the winner of the Montana Wireoff. Also of note: PureSpectrum’s board offers some stern words about a guy they just fired.
ELECTRICIANS WHO OWN THEIR JOBS
One-man (+ one-woman) bands
By Joe Salimando
In 1990s, as publisher of Electrical Contractor, I was asked by a
marketing fellow for one of the industry's bigger companies for numbers
on the one-man companies in the EC business. I had to admit that I did
not know. I went looking, and was not successful in finding government
data.
Those were the days before the web. Now, the government makes these data available (since '02). The
rest of this piece covers what we can know about these "nonemployer"
contractors, with data from 2002 to 2008.
True Believers Speak on EVs
Two DoE contractors at work
By Joe Salimando
"Charging 101: What consumers need to know about charging their
plug-in vehicles at home, work or on the go" was the title of a phone
conference held Aug. 10 by the Electric Drive Transportation
Association. The most recent Special Report covered the GM speaker at
the event; this one (below) provides info about two EV program vendors
and what they had to say; the next posting will deal with Eaton's
speaker. MORE
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