Leggett & Platt announced the retirement of John Meyer, vice president of commercial rod and wire. A WAI Life Member, he served the company for 24 years, having previously worked for 22 years for Keystone Steel & Wire. His function will be assumed by Nick Avise, who has 20 years of wire industry experience. He joined the company as a sales representative in 2005 and was promoted to marketing/sales development manager in 2014, then to national sales manager in 2017 and then director of sales in 2021. He holds an MBA from Georgia Colleges & State University and a M.S. degree in chemistry from Missouri Southern State University. Based in Carthage, Missouri, USA, Leggett & Platt’s product lines include steel wire.

 American Wire Group (AWG) reported two promotions. Nada Filipovic was named vice president of marketing and communications. She joined AWG in 2020 as a marketing manager and previously worked for more than 15 years for Nexans. She has an MBA in international business from Niagara University and a B.A. degree in economics from McMaster University. Marketing Communications Specialist Kristina Borojevic, who joined the company in 2022, was promoted to director of PR and communications. She holds a B.A. degree in international relations and affairs from McMaster University. Based in Miami, Florida, the American Wire Group makes wire and cable products for utilities and renewable energy.

Keith D’Amato has joined Dranetz in distribution sales. He most recently worked for Sjogren Industries, where he served for nearly eight years in sales and marketing. Prior to that he worked for 17 years for Ripley Tools. He holds a degree in business and marketing from Fairfield University and an MBA in management from Albertus Magnus College. Based in Edison, New Jersey, a division of GMC- Instruments Group, Dranetz is a global manufacturer of intelligent monitoring solutions for electrical demand and energy and power quality requirements.

Peter Weimann has been named director of engineering at Amphenol Fiber Optic Products. He most recently was CTO for HFCL Limited, where he worked for three years. He previously worked for 23 years for OFS as director, optical cable R&D, North America; technical manager and senior R&D engineer. He holds a PhD degree in materials engineering from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. degree in materials engineering and organizational management from the University of Pennsylvania. Based in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA, Amphenol Fiber Optic Products, a division of Amphenol Corporation, provides solutions for fiber optic interconnect applications.

Emtelle has named Beni Blell president of its USA Division, tasked with strengthening the company’s presence in the American market. He has more over 30 years of experience in the optical communications industry, having held senior leadership roles in other globally recognized organizations. He will oversee operations and sales of Emtelle’s U.S. manufacturing and testing facility in Fletcher, North Carolina, which is a cornerstone of Emtelle’s “Made in America” initiative. Based in Fletcher, North Carolina, Emtelle USA is part of the U.K.’s Emtelle, which is a global manufacturer of pre-connectorized, blown-fiber cabling and ducted network solutions.

 
Obituary

Industry veteran Richard “Dick” Hall, the retired president and CEO of Champlain Cable Corporation, died Dec. 30, 2024, at age 76. Hall served for 20 years with the company, rising from vice president of sales and marketing to CEO. During that period, he led the company through a turnaround that saw four acquisitions completed, the expansion of one location from 200,000 to 500,000 sq ft, and a 10-fold increase in revenue. After his retirement, he continued to serve as an advisor through 2023. Hall’s prior experience in the wire and cable industry included senior vice president at Electro-Wire, vice president sales & marketing at the Brand-Rex Division of BICC, general sales manager at Harbour Industries, sales manager at A.E. Petsche and his first position, industrial sales, at ITT Surprenant. Throughout his career, Hall was known for his hard work, strong relationships and innovative solutions to turning companies around, but also for having an incredible sense of humor, a love of the industry and its people, and for mentoring many who also now hold high level positions in the wire and cable industry. A WAI Life Member, Hall was a 2004 recipient of the Wire Cable Manufacturers Alliance’s Distinguished Career Award. He was a former WCMA president and was one of the organization’s founding Board members when it was incorporated in 2004. Hall held an MBA degree from Northeastern University-Boston, a BSBA degree from John Carroll University-Cleveland and had completed senior level executive management programs at Harvard, Boston University, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan and University of Kentucky. He is survived by his wife, Mary; daughter, Emilie; sons Andrew and Nicholas; and six grandchildren: Lily, Hannah, Tyler, Parker, Makayla, and Stockton.

The Wire Association International’s (WAI) new online training platform was officially launched at the end of January 2025, marking a significant step forward in the Association’s commitment to advancing industry education.

The debut included details about three in-house-produced courses—Introduction to Ferrous Metallurgy, Single Layer Extrusion Overview, and Extrusion Applications—as well as 12 manufacturing safety courses from a third-party content provider, offering a diverse library for industry professionals.

A Jan. 29th Open House webinar, the kick-off for the launch, gave attendees a first-hand look at the platform’s features, course structure, and content, with a live demonstration and Q&A session. “I fully expect the response to the platform and webinar to be phenomenal,” said John Markowski, WAI’s Education Manager. “It’s clear there’s a strong demand for flexible, high-quality educational resources in our industry.”

Development is ongoing, with plans to introduce an online version of the Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing Course later in 2025. “This course has been the cornerstone of WAI’s training efforts for years and moving it online will allow us to engage a broader audience,” Markowski explained.

At the time of launch, several companies were already prepared to integrate WAI’s training content into their employee onboarding efforts. Additionally, WAI is proud to announce a partnership with the Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI), which will incorporate select ferrous metallurgy videos into SMI’s courses while also offering their participants access to WAI’s Introduction to Ferrous Metallurgy course. This collaboration expands WAI’s reach and aligns with SMI’s shared mission to support wire manufacturing education.

Steve Fetteroll, WAI’s Executive Director, shared Markowski’s enthusiasm for the platform’s potential. “The industry is evolving, and so are we. This platform reflects WAI’s dedication to meeting the growing need for accessible, top-tier training opportunities.”

Interwire 2025 will serve as a key stage for showcasing WAI’s new training materials to the wire and cable industry. As part of the event, John Markowski will host a session in the WAI Theater in the exhibition hall, highlighting the critical importance of workforce training in today’s evolving industry. The session will include a live demonstration of WAI’s training platform, offering attendees a look at how it can serve as a valuable solution to meet their companies’ training and professional development needs.

Visit wirenet.org for details on the platform, including future course additions and updates. Questions can be directed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Over the past 20 years, ACIMAF, IWMA and the WAI have produced numerous technical conferences throughout Europe. This time, they are being joined by Poland’s AGH University (AGH) to put on an event that will be held in Kraków, Poland, on Oct. 14, 2025. It is a most fitting addition as multiple members of WAI’s Poland Chapter have presented technical articles.

AGH is a public university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1913, the university focuses on innovative technologies, its research profile also includes engineering disciplines, exact sciences, earth sciences and social sciences. Its research scope includes wire production.

WAI Executive Director Steve Fetteroll credits RichardApex’s Don Neville—who recently completed his term as chairman of U.K.-based International Wire Machinery Association (IWMA)—for encouraging a collaboration with AGH. That led to support from AGH Dean Tadeusz Knych, the 2015 winner of WAI’s Mordica Award and a long-time member of the WAI Poland Chapter, and Dr. Beata Smyrak, an AGH professor. “The group is working well together and of course, it is a pleasure to have a chance to work more closely with genuine supporters.”

Professor Jerzy Lis, the rector of AGH, is also supporting the one-day event that will see concurrent ferrous and electrical tracks as well as tabletops.

Attendees will be presented an in-depth view of the manufacturing advances in wire and cable research, operations and production. While some presentations have already been secured, a call for papers has been issued for ferrous and nonferrous topics. The deadline for an abstract submission form is March 31, 2025. The form can be accessed online at BIT.LY/WAIABSTRACTS

After the program has been completed, there will be a gala dinner including local cuisine and history at the Depot at 15 św. Wawrzyńca Street. The complex is a rarity in Europe as it is the only depot complex virtually preserved in its entirety, the witness of the transformations in the city public transport from the introduction of horse trams, through narrow-gauge and standard-gauge electric trams, to buses. It has been renovated into the Museum of Engineering and Technology.

 The Holiday Inn Krakow City Centre hotel is a five-minute walk from the vast Main Square in the city’s historic Old Town. Local tram and bus stops are nearby, and Kraków Główny train station is within easy reach. John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice is a 25-minute drive.

Krakow’s 13th-century Rynek Główny square is lined with palaces and churches, including the iconic St. Mary’s Basilica. The Kazimierz Jewish Quarter, a 12-minute walk, is home to the 15th-century Old Synagogue and its Jewish culture museum. You can walk to the hilltop Wawel Royal Castle and the art museum within 15 minutes.

The hotel rooms reservations are the responsibility of each attendee. The rates are listed below in Zloty (Polish currency): single room standard: 580 PLN (approximately €137) and double-room standard: 680 PLN (approximately €160). Those rates include VAT, buffet breakfast, mini-gym access and internet access

An optional group tour for the Conference attendees and spouses has been arranged to the iconic Wieliczka Salt Mines. The preliminary cost is €140 per person. Rock salt was first discovered in Wieliczka in the 13th century, when the first shafts were dug, and it was mined continuously from then until 1996. Since 1976, the underground Wieliczka has been listed in the register of monuments, and in 1994 it was declared a national Historic Monument by the president of the Republic of Poland. The tour’s specific date/time will be announced later.

Attendees may also choose to visit the Wawel Royal Castle and Wawel Hill—a 15-minute walk from the hotel—that is one of the historically and culturally important sites in Poland. For centuries the residence of kings and the symbol of Polish statehood, the castle is now one of the country’s premier art museums.

Gibbs Interwire and Elgiloy Specialty Metals Wire report that they have entered a strategic alliance to create a comprehensive product lineup.

A press release said that the alliance will combine Elgiloy’s expertise in precision-drawn nickel, cobalt and specialty stainless steel wire alloys with Gibbs Interwire’s spring wire and strip product lines. The affiliation brings together knowledge across many industries, including: aerospace, automotive, chemical processing, commercial, medical and dental, nuclear, power generation and oil & gas. Customers will have access to a broad selection of wire, strip, and coil products in a wider variety of sizes, catering to diverse industry needs, with a single point of contact for both companies. 

The Wire & Cables Manufacturers Alliance (WCMA) will honor the winners of its 2025 Distinguished Career Award at The 39th Annual Awards Dinner and Investiture Ceremony that will take place on March 29, 2025, in Hartford, Connecticut, at the Downtown Hartford Marriott Hotel.

The Award Ceremony recognizes individuals in wire and cable who served the industry for a minimum of 25 years and during that time demonstrated outstanding professional acumen along with personal attributes of an exceptional degree. The Award was originally named for the late Charles D. Scott (1915-1983), founder and president of Northeast Wire Co. The 2025 recipients are listed below.

• Bob Allen, Engineering Manager, James Monroe Wire & Cable
• Lenny Argentine, VP Sales & Marketing, International Wire
• Mike Canterino, VP Engineering, Fluoropolymer Resources
• John Gross, Publisher, Copper Journal
• Hamid Haophsy, VP Manufacturing, Fisk Alloy Wire
• Trent Hayes, Engineering Manager, CommScope
• Joe Iamartino, VP of Technology, Marmon Electrical
• David Kiddoo, CEO, IWCS/CCCA

To make a reservation or for more information about WCMA or the Distinguished Career Award, go to www.wcmainc.org, and click on premier events or contact WCMA Executive Director Ed Fenton at 860-331-7074 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Japan’s Sumitomo Electric reports that it has been named by SSEN Transmission as the preferred bidder for the Shetland 2 project that will deploy 525 KV HVDC cable for a 330 km link from Shetland— an island archipelago about 160 km off the north east coast of Scotland—to the mainland.

A press release said that the cable will be made at Sumitomo’s new £350 million facility in Nigg in the north east of Scotland, which is under construction. It noted that this will be the first such cable type and technology manufactured in the U.K. The deal was crucial to Sumitomo’s decision to build the Nigg cable manufacturing facility.

Per an article in Shetland News, the announcement is a major milestone as it represents the second subsea HVDC cable between Shetland and the Scottish mainland. The first HVDC link between Shetland and Caithness on the mainland, went live last year with a capacity of 600 MW that is exported. Once the Lerwick Power Station goes into standby mode next year, Shetland as a whole will then be connected to the national grid via the cable. Van Oord Offshore Wind UK will serve as the subsea cable installation partner.

“We are delighted to reach this major milestone with Sumitomo and Van Oord for the Shetland 2 project,” said SSEN Transmission Managing Director Rob McDonald. “It’s great to see the progress being made at Sumitomo’s new cable manufacturing facility and we are extremely proud to be supporting their investment and the major boost to the Highland economy this will unlock.”

The need for a second HVDC link from Shetland to the main GB transmission system was confirmed by the independent electricity system operator National Grid ESO as part of its nationwide strategic network plan, Beyond 2030. It will make possible the connection of three ScotWind offshore wind farm sites adjacent to Shetland that will have a combined generating capacity of up to 2.8 GW. The plan will require more than £20 billion to upgrade the network infrastructure across the north of Scotland between now and 2030 as the region plays a leading role in the clean energy transition.

On Oct. 2, 2024, a posting by Sunil Tagare was the first to discuss purported plans from Meta to invest in a fiber optic subsea cable project—potentially 40,000 km long, with a world-wide scope that includes the U.S., India, South Africa and Australia—that would take years to arrange and potentially cost more than $10 billion. Further, Meta reportedly would be the sole owner of the cable.

An article in TechCrunch said that while the route would avoid areas considered vulnerable to political and military tensions, few contractors would be capable of building out that infrastructure and many are tied up with commitments to other customers. “If the project does come to fruition, it’s likely to take several years before the cable is laid and switched on.”

Madem-Moorecraft Reels USA reports that it has doubled its production capacity for nailed wooden reels at its plant in Denton, Texas.

A press release said that the newly opened plant has seen the installation of a second manufacturing line for nailed wooden reels. The new line integrates cutting-edge technology for smart production, energy efficiency and customization. A second assembly and distribution warehouse, dedicated for the Texas market, was also added, so the Denton site has more than 200,000 sf of space for making wood and plywood reels, wood reel recycling, and distribution.

 Madem-Moorecraft, a joint venture between Madem Brazil and Moorecraft Reels (USA), also has a plant in Tarboro, North Carolina. The plywood reel manufacturing line is located in Denton. Madem-Moorecraft also has assembly and distribution warehouses in six states.

AFL, a manufacturer of fiber optic products and equipment, announced that it is investing $155 million to expand its manufacturing operations across Spartanburg County in South Carolina.

A press release said that the initiative will create more than 150 new jobs over the next two to five years. A subsidiary of Japan’s Fujikura, Ltd., AFL’s product lines include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories and more, that is marketed to some 130 countries.

AFL will expand all of its fiber optic cable manufacturing operations located across Duncan. Last March, AFL announced that it would invest more than $50 million to expand its operations in Spartanburg County to support AFL’s portfolio of products compliant with the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA).

AFL was formed on Nov. 2, 1984, by Alcoa Securities Corporation, a subsidiary of ALCOA and Fujikura Ltd. AFL manufactures fiber optic ground wire (entrance cables for sale to the public utility industry) at its Duncan facility. In 2005, Fujikura assumed 100% ownership of AFL and moved its headquarters to Duncan.

Mirae Asset Global Investments (Mirae) announced that it has made a $200 million investment in Essex Solutions, a U.S. magnet wire manufacturer through a holding company owned by South Korea’s LS Cable & System.

Last August, Superior Essex, as part of its buyout of Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire, announced that the company would change its brand name to Essex Solutions. Under the new name it would encompass all current Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire locations worldwide. That includes Essex Energy in Italy. Also, to further strengthen operations, the related businesses Lacroix + Kress, IVA Insulations and Hi-Wire would join the Essex Solutions organization, while continuing to operate under their existing brand identity.

A January press release said that the latest news fits in the company’s plans. “With the investment, the market capitalization of Essex Solutions is to jump to around $1 billion, bolstering its initial public offering plan. LS Group seeks to make Essex Solutions go public within this year.”

Per a report in Korea JoonAng Daily, the consortium of Mirae Asset and the Korea Climate & Governance Improvement Fund secured around a 20% stake in Essex Solutions. The pre-IPO valuation of Essex Solutions was approximately $1 billion. It noted that Essex Solutions holds a dominance in the U.S. magnet wire market as the leading supplier, with production bases across North and South America, Europe and Asia. The company aims to secure a market share of more than 70% in North America and 50% in Europe in the next five years. The LS Group holding company plans to list the company on Nasdaq.

Founded in 1997, Mirae Asset notes that it is one of the largest independent financial groups in Asia, providing comprehensive services to clients worldwide. It has a presence in 19 global markets and the group’s managed assets worldwide exceed US$632.3 billion.