Changes in WESCO Leadership – Nelson Squires

According to a WESCO press release, WESCO announced the appointment of Mr. Nelson Squires as its Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer effective October 1, 2019.

Mr. Squires served as the Company’s Group Vice President and General Manager of WESCO Canada/International/WIS since January 2018 and as Group Vice President and General Manager of WESCO Canada since August 2015.  From 2010 to July 2015, he was Vice President and General Manager, North America Merchant Gases and President, Air Products Canada of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.  He has also served in regional and general management positions, as director of investor relations, and in various sales positions at Air Products.  Earlier in his career, he was a Captain in the United States Army.

John J. Engel, WESCO’s Chairman, President and CEO, stated, “Nelson has a strong track record of delivering sales and profit growth since joining WESCO four years ago.  He is a seasoned executive with excellent leadership skills, and I’m very pleased to announce his promotion to this global operations leader role in WESCO.

According to sources, Mr. Squires replaces Juan Picon who was Group VP and GM.

Mr. Squires is referred to as a “military guy” (usually means focused, disciplined, can be forthright), very smart, , knows customers well. WESCO’s Canada business is contractor-oriented with its EECOL division being industrially-oriented. Between Canada and WESCO’s International business Mr. Squires was responsible for $3B of WESCO sales and 3,700 employees. According to his LinkedIn profile “has taken a business group that had shrunk by double-digits on both the top and bottom line for 2 consecutive years and returned it back to market growth rates. He’s achieved this through a reinvigoration of the leadership team with new internal and external talent.”

Congratulations to Mr. Squires.