The Interwire trade exposition held in Atlanta from May 8-11, 2023, provided the perfect backdrop for two remarkable Chapter Board meetings which demonstrated commitment to growth, collaboration, and fostering the next generation of leaders.
Western Chapter. After an eight-year hiatus, the Western Chapter emerged from its slumber with a renewed sense of purpose. Committed volunteers from the region, including California and Texas, took the reins to form the new Western Chapter Board. Their primary objective: to revitalize the chapter, forge connections and promote the benefits of joining the vibrant wire industry.
The board used this in-person meeting opportunity to begin discussing the groundwork and layout. Essentially, a roadmap of what is needed to set their plans in motion. The first order of business is to build a strong member base, actively reaching out to professionals and organizations throughout the Western region. Emphasizing the power of networking, the board aims to create a dynamic platform where industry experts can exchange knowledge, establish meaningful connections, and foster collaborations.
Again, this is still the early stage, but it is an exciting one that will take time to develop, and the leadership roles in the Western Chapter will be defined as more progress is made.
As part of their revitalization efforts, the Western Chapter Board discussed hosting a small golf tournament in 2024. Stay tuned as details develop over the coming months. If you are interested in becoming involved with the Association’s Western Chapter at this time, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ohio Valley Chapter. The Ohio Valley Chapter focused on finalizing details for their highly anticipated golf tournament scheduled for August 24. Designed to provide participants with both enjoyment and educational value, the tournament will include three insightful sessions on industry trends, developments and best practices.
As a testament to their commitment to fostering future talent, the Ohio Valley Chapter continues work to unveil their new scholarship program, slated to launch in 2024. The chapter has developed an official criteria and eligibility sheet, which will be circulated among members soon.
Reported by WAI Membership Manager John Markowski
Service Wire reported multiple personnel news. Matt Shumway has been promoted to national sales manager for the utility market, responsible for driving specification approvals and increasing market share nationwide. He joined the company as a regional sales manager, utility. He attended the University of Texas at San Antonio. Shane Berry has been promoted to vice president, manufacturing and distribution. He joined the company as director, human resources, in 2018, and in 2021 became director, manufacturing and distribution. Prior to that, he served for about two years as general manager/project manager for ArcelorMittal USA. He holds an MBA from Virginia Tech, and an M.S. degree in industrial and organizational psychology and a B.S. degree in psychology from Radford University. Tanner Beckett will serve the wire and cable electrical distribution markets of Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and the Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. He has more than six years of industry experience and holds a B.A. degree in geography from Marshall University. Hillary Rowe now represents accounts in the greater Houston metropolitan area. She has more than five years of sales experience in a variety of industrial markets. Based in Culloden, West Virginia, Service Wire is a family-owned wire and cable manufacturer.
Claes Westerlind was named CEO of NKT. He became part of the company in 2017 when NKT acquired ABB HV Cables in Sweden. Since 2019, he had served as executive vice president, Solutions Karlskrona, and was a member of the global leadership team. He was instrumental in the company’s achieving record orders for high-voltage cable as well as leading the investment and expansion programs in Karlskrona that were launched in 2020. He previously worked in various technical, sales and managerial roles at ABB (now Hitachi Energy) from 2006-2017. He replaces Alexander Kara who left the company for personal reasons. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, NKT manufactures power cables and power cable accessories for the on- and offshore energy sector.
LaserLinc has two recent hires. Danielle Van Auken is the company’s newest buyer. She has more than 20 years of professional and managerial experience. Col Mogdlin has joined LaserLinc’s engineering department as a mechanical draftsman. Based in Fairborn, Ohio, LaserLinc is supplier of testing and measuring equipment.
Obituary
Larry Dean Fitzgerald, a long-time extrusion industry veteran, died May 9, 2023, after a short illness at age 78. The Connecticut resident passed on the first full day of Interwire 2023, a fitting departure as he had long been a fixture at industry trade shows. Known as “the godfather of wire & cable,” he had a gruff exterior that was paired with a willingness to share his expertise. He held decades of key sales and marketing posts prior to his retirement from Graham Engineering late last year. Past employers included Ramco Inc. (1970-76); Xaloy, Inc., (1976-80); Maillefer Co., (1980-85); Nokia, Inc., (1985-88); Bristol Corp/Electrical Systems Division, (1988-90); Davis Electric Co./Merritt Davis Corp., (1990-2000); Entwistle Co. (2000-02); Merritt Extruder Corp., (2002-05); Davis-Standard LLC, (2005-12); then American Kuhne/Graham Engineering, where he retired but kept active until early in January, when medical issues forced the end of his lengthy career. A WAI Life Member, he was a member of its New England Chapter since 2006. He held a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University. He served with distinction in the military, including two tours in Vietnam. Survivors include a daughter, Alena Fitzgerald, and a son, Phillip Fitzgerald.
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (SEI) plans to establish a power cable factory in Scotland to serve the strong demand for power cable, an investment estimated to top £200 million and create 150 highly skilled green jobs.
A press release said that SEI has a proven track record of delivering power cables for offshore wind power projects around the world, including the U.K., Germany, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan’s first commercial offshore wind farms at Akita and Noshiro. Demand for more renewable energy and interconnected national and regional lines to achieve a decarbonized society has been especially strong in the European market. “In particular, the U.K. is expected to be one of the largest markets for power cables, as the country is planning a number of offshore wind power projects to achieve the Scottish government’s Net-zero 2045 and U.K.’s Net-zero 2050.”
SEI has seen a high degree of technical success with its high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cross-linked polyethylene-insulated (XLPE) submarine cable system. It was used for the U.K.-Belgium interconnector (NEMO Link) and successfully completed the installation. The 400 kV HVDC XLPE cable system is the industry’s highest voltage in commercial operation even today. This has led SEI to win multiple global contracts, including a project connecting the U.K. and Ireland (Greenlink Interconnector) and one in Germany (Corridor A-Nord).
A meeting was held May 18 in Tokyo between U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Sumitomo Electric Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Matsumoto and President & COO Osamu Inoue. “I am greatly honored to hear the strong expectations of Prime Minister Sunak and U.K. government regarding our power cable factory investment in the U.K.,” Inoue said.
“I am absolutely delighted that Sumitomo Electric will be coming to Scotland,” said Neil Gray, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy. This significant announcement demonstrates the strength of confidence investors have in our vision for a net zero economy ... and be invaluable to supporting Scotland’s rapidly expanding offshore wind sector.”
Solvay, a global market leader in specialty materials -- which include products for making cables -- has officially opened another application development lab (ADL) in Shanghai to expand the global footprint of its research and innovation capabilities. The opening ceremony of the new lab on May 12th was attended by Solvay’s Chief Technology Officer Nicolas Cudré-Mauroux and Andrew Lau, Senior Executive Vice President of the company’s Materials global business unit, and Francesco Triulzi, Head of Application Development Labs, Solvay Materials.
“There is an enormously growing demand for new application development in various Chinese key industries, such as automotive, life sciences and electronics,” states Andrew Lau, and adds: “Our new ADL addresses this trend with a significant investment aimed at responding to local market needs faster and with greater proximity to customers than ever, providing tailored high-performance material solutions.”
With a team of some 30 highly qualified and experienced scientists, engineers and technicians, the Shanghai ADL will be fully equipped to advance custom-tailored application developments using state-of-the-art Solvay technologies. An Innovation Workshop will coordinate the resources to accte the implementation of local solutions through world class simulation, prototyping and performance evaluation services, complemented by various dedicated process equipment, such as for 3D printing, extrusion and noise-vibration-harshness (NHV) improvements.
“The new ADL will follow a triple strategy focusing on local-for-local, global-for-local and local-for-global innovation,” explains Nicolas Cudré-Mauroux. “Unique facilities to support these efforts include a semiconductors clean room environment enabling high-purity and high-temperature testing, separation capabilities for hemodialysis and water filtration applications, and a functional and industrial coatings facility.”
Major local and global end markets expected to benefit from Solvay’s Shanghai based Application Development Lab will be automotive, new energy, life solutions and pharmacy, smart devices and semiconductors.
Malaysia’s Southern Cable Group Bhd reports that it has won a contract to supply underground cables and conductors to Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), the nation’s utility giant. It also said that it wants to target the U.S. market.
Per an article in themalaysianreserve.com, the newest contract follows an addendum contract worth about US$7 million won by Southern Cable Sdn Bhd, its wholly owned subsidiary, secured in April 2023. To date, orders from TNB have been about $94 million. More than 80% of Southern Cable’s annual revenue typically comes from sales of power cables and wires. It notes that sales from January 2021 through 2022 saw annual compound growth of 27.8%.
Southern Cable, a registered supplier of wire and cable for TNB for the past 19 years, has a strong business relationship with the utility provider. It also supplies other utility providers such as Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Energy Bhd. Its sales include power cables and wires, aluminum rods and supply and installation of rectifier systems for 5G networks.
Regarding the sales to the U.S., an article in another Malaysian publication, The Star, said the company is applying for U.L. certification for some new products it would like to market to the U.S.
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