Graybar Enhances Leadership Team

Yesterday Graybar announced changes / enhancements to its leadership team:

“Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications, data networking and industrial products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, today announced the following leadership changes that will take effect on January 1, 2025.

• Dennis DeSousa has been elected Chief of Staff. He is currently Senior Vice President and General Manager.
• David Bender has been promoted to Senior Vice President – East Region. He is currently Regional Vice President for the company’s western region.
• Brian Delaney has been promoted to Senior Vice President – West Region and Subsidiaries. He is currently Regional Vice President – U.S. Subsidiaries.
• Danna Stone has been promoted to Senior Vice President – Marketing. She is currently Vice President – Marketing.
• Andy Ipson has been promoted to Senior Vice President – Supply Chain Management. He is currently District Vice President in St. Louis.

“As Graybar continues on its journey toward growth and transformation, strong leadership is vital to our long-term success,” said Kathleen M. Mazzarella, Graybar’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “These individuals have demonstrated exceptional leadership, and I am confident they will continue to make a positive difference for our company and those we serve. We congratulate them and wish them continued success.”

Congratulations to these five individuals.

What Could This Mean?

• With the five individuals being elevated to Senior Vice President roles, it infers that Graybar has implemented a new layer in its management structure. Perhaps the resulting VP levels are empty, perhaps someone has been promoted into those openings.
• It is interesting that Graybar now has an East and West region for the entire business, migrating the subsidiary responsibilities to the SVO East and West, along with their Graybar responsibilities. Perhaps a future merging of the businesses? Perhaps gaining a holistic view of the market? Or maybe it relates to marketplace dynamics about acquisition opportunities or synergies / opportunities in pursuing large projects and supporting “traveling / large” contractors? Some manufacturers may have reservations about information sharing; however, the few individuals are well experienced in the industry and understand the dynamics

In Q2 Graybar grew its electrical business more than other publicly held national chains. These promotions recognize their leadership team and help position the individuals, and the company, for further growth.