THE ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION INDUSTRY | |
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Industry Recruiters – Return on Investment
You have an urgent hiring need. One of your top performers left unexpectedly, or you need to replace an under-performing team member. In either case, you realize the role needs to be filled in a timely manner and with a stronger candidate that can solve the challenges the predecessor faced to further grow your business.
The value of working with Egret Consulting?
You clearly acknowledge the value in working with a professional recruiter that specializes in your industry. In the case of Egret Consulting; the electrical industry. You realize that nobody knows your marketplace better than Egret. You recognize that we identify who your competitors are, understand your go to market strategy, know the technologies involved in your products and can effectively identify, attract, and land the candidates that are both a professional and cultural fit for your organization. Easy, peasy, right?
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Egret Consulting is celebrating 25th Anniversary in 2024!
Egret, Inc. was founded by Ted Konnerth and incorporated on November 2, 1999. Ted leveraged his experience in the lighting industry as an independent rep and then VP of Sales at Cooper Lighting to launch Egret. Ted purchased a franchise from Management Recruiter’s Inc. (MRI) and opened Egret’s office doors November 15, 1999. Egret began specializing in Lighting manufacturers and then started serving Electrical Distributors. Egret was awarded the Rookie of the Year office from MRI in 2000 and won multiple additional awards through 2003.
The business name was changed to Egret Consulting Group in 2002 and left MRI in 2004. Egret rapidly grew to become the largest and most successful search firm in the electrical industry.
Ted Konnerth retired from Egret Consulting in 2019. Egret was purchased that year by Brooke Ziolo. Egret has thrived under Brooke’s leadership and continues to grow at an exceptional pace. Egret has expanded over our first quarter century to focus on virtually every vertical in the electrical industry.
Egret Consulting currently focuses on Lighting Manufacturers, Lighting Rep Agencies, Lighting Design, AE & MEP Firms, ESCO’s and Contractors, Electrical Distributors, Wire and Cable Manufacturers, Tool Manufacturers, Power Distribution Manufacturers & Rep Agencies, Industrial Automation, Building Automation, Renewable Energy Technologies, Utilities, Cybersecurity, Software Programming, and IT.
Egret Consulting’s value proposition throughout our 25-year history has always been our unmatched market expertise and absolute honesty and ethics. Egret values the relationships that we’ve built over our first quarter century with our exceptional client partners and the outstanding industry talent that we have the privilege of speaking to every day. Egret was founded on the famous phrase “Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
We are grateful to have served the electrical industry for the past 25 years and look forward to our next 25 and beyond!
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NAED National Meeting in Austin, TX
Brooke Ziolo, Pati Kelly, and Rob Wieska attended the NAED National Meeting in Austin, TX. It was great to meet in person with our distributor and manufacturing client partners and establish new connections and contacts. In total, there were 190 distributors from 54 companies, 290 manufacturers from 74 companies, and 63 service providers, including four M&A companies. We heard from some that they experienced a challenging Q1, but expected improvement in Q2 and beyond. We again heard of the need for strengthening relationships between distributors and manufacturers and that distributors openly welcome a higher level of support and product training. The need to upskill talent to have a much more technical focus in paramount. Delivery time on power distribution products remains a pain point, but introductions were made between distributors and ETO manufacturers that can offer much better delivery times and would not jeopardize existing relationships. Consolidation was a concern for some manufacturers as was the topic of margins. AI remained a “buzzword” and conversations centered around the integration of AI to help with streamlining the quotations process for efficiency improvements. Automating warehouse operations was also a topic of discussion. The big news at NAED was the announcement of the collaboration agreement between NAED, NEMA, NEMRA and NECA called Project Spotlight. Focus will be lobbying, recruitment, data quality and grid expansion. Wes Smith shared his vision for workforce development, digital advancements, electrification, and advocacy. In all, meetings were extremely productive and we’re excited for a very strong second half of 2024 with momentum carrying to 2025.
Personal note - Robroy Industries hosted an amazing “Leading the Way” gourmet dinner reception. We were able to meet 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, 2X Super Bowl Champion Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and NCAA National Championship Head Coach with the University of Miami - Jimmy Johnson, which was truly an honor for us.
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Feedback from the recent NAED National Meeting unfortunately reaffirmed that the backlog occurring in the switchgear and transformer markets are not getting any better.
In fact, we heard from distributors that they are purchasing more from "other" companies as well as panel builders and, if they are opening new locations, they are considering what brand to offer.
For some, backlogs are causing lost sales in other product categories. And while there are backlogs, sales are still occurring. In fact, distributors reported an uptick in Q2 sales which also infers that they are booking, and shipping, switchgear, and transformers.
David Gordon and Channel Marketing Group launched a survey on the switchgear / transformer market (electrical and utility segments). Just a few quick questions regarding ABB, Eaton, Hubbell Incorporated, Siemens, Square D by Schneider Electric and the overall market. Answers are multiple choice, so he doesn’t ask for confidential information.
To get an updated sense of the market, please share your input. The link to the survey is here: https://lnkd.in/eScK4MsW
And, if you want, you can get a free copy of the results. The survey is for distributors only.
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2024 Top 100 Electrical Distributors | |
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Jim Lucy and Electrical Wholesaling have released their annual ranking of the Top 100 Electrical Distributors.
This year’s Top 100 ranking highlights just how impactful mergers and acquisitions are in the electrical market. In the 2024 edition, more than 60 firms previously ranked on the list since 1980 have been acquired.
For this reason, the list has been pared down from 150 to 100 companies. Most will recall the list used to be 250!
Link: https://www.ewweb.com/data-training/top-150/article/55055225/the-electrical-markets-largest-distributors
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Distribution Job Opportunities | |
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Job Moves
Adam Berg, VP of Sales - OEM, Lonestar Electric Supply
Jason Blatt - Outside Sales, Shepherd Electric
Lynn Guidice - Lighting Sales, Quotes & Project Manager, Supreme Lighting
Frank Agraz - Director of Engineering, Facility Solutions Group
Promotions
Brad Oliver - Profit Center Manager, CED
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President / Executive Recruiter
Brooke Ziolo has been with Egret for 15 years and purchased the company 4 years ago. She focuses on lighting, lighting controls, LED’s, SSL, etc.
847.307.7127
bz@egretconsulting.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lightingrecruiter/
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Executive Recruiter / Senior Partner
Pati Kelly has been with Egret for 11 years. She focuses on wire & cable, tools, fittings, cable harnesses, pipe, connectors, conduit, datacom, etc.
847.307.7128
pk@egretconsulting.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/electricalrecruiter/
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Executive Recruiter / Senior Partner
Rob Wieska has been with Egret for over 8 years. He focuses on Power Distribution (switchgear, panelboards, switchboards, transformers, ATS, circuit breakers, controls, etc.), Automation Technologies (including generation products, smart grid, building automation and controls manufacturers) and Renewables (including wind, solar, battery / energy storage, EV Charging, Microgrid applications, and other emerging technologies).
847.307.7129
rw@egretconsulting.com
www.linkedin.com/in/robwieska
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