WAI’s manager of membership & social media, John Markowski, has left the Association after five years for a position with Kubtec Medical Imaging, a Connecticut-based manufacturer in the medical field.

“It has been an honor to serve this incredible community, and I am immensely proud of the bonds we’ve forged and the growth we’ve achieved together,” said Markowski, who started out with WAI in 2018 as an intern while attending Albertus Magnus College. “Working at WAI was an incredible learning experience, and while I’ll miss the daily interactions, I leave with a heart full of cherished memories and deep appreciation for every individual I had the privilege to collaborate with.”

During his time with WAI, Markowski propelled the organization’s digital presence through social media and fostered a vibrant and engaged member base, growing membership by 30% over the past two and a half years. He was also responsible for managing five chapter boards, the Member Relations Committee, the company’s internship program, and event planning.

In other personnel news, Gina Guzowski left her position earlier this year as sales manager of WAI. She joined the company in 2022, and in her first two months worked at both Wire Expo 2022 in Dallas and at wire Düsseldorf 2022.

“Like any business, WAI has to adjust to changes in personnel,” said WAI Executive Director Steve Fetteroll. “While we’re sad to lose John, who has done a lot for us, we wish him and Gina the best.”

Wire Journal International is pleased to announce that Anna Bzowski has returned to WAI in a new role: director of international sales & business development. She joins Shannon Timme, director of sales, as the other half of the two-person department.

Bzowski is well known to the industry as she worked in the sales department for 17 years, including 15 years as sales manager. She returned in May to assist WAI in the production of Interwire. “We were pleased that she was able and willing to assist with the significant activities associated with the successful production of the show,” said Steve Fetteroll, WAI’s executive director. “We were even happier, when she agreed to rejoin in this full-time capacity.”

The sales team will be responsible for customers along geographic lines, with Timme being the point person for U.S. based customers, and Bzowski responsible for companies with headquarters outside of the U.S.

“I’m pleased to be back because I have always enjoyed interacting with customers in our industry,” Bzowski said. “Understanding their needs and challenges allows me to introduce, develop, and implement partnership-based solutions that support their business objectives.”

As a dual citizen (Polish/American), Bzowski said that she enjoys exploring different cultures and finding ways to promote mindful communication and professional business exchange. “I’m hopeful our in-person and real engagement driven events will attract more clients from all over the world and our advertising channels will continue to support marketing efforts and branding opportunities for domestic and international clients.”

Aside from WAI’s Interwire and Wire Expo trade shows, Bzowski has marketed International Technical Conferences, golf tournaments, webinars, educational and networking events. From 2010-2017, she also served as the membership liaison for the Association’s New England Chapter, which saw much growth during that period. She holds a degree in teaching from Jagiellonian University in Poland, and attended the University of New Haven.

The Prysmian Group is investing approximately €120 million in its strategic plant in Pikkala, Finland, that produces high-tech cables for land and submarine interconnections and for both onshore and offshore wind farms all over the world.

A press release said that the investment—in addition to the €100 million already provided in 2022—is aimed at further increasing the production capacity of the 525 kV HVDC submarine cable systems, supporting the growing market demand driven by the need to develop and upgrade power transmission grids for the energy transition. It calls for new Vertical Continuous Vulcanization (VCV) lines that will more than double the Pikkala plant’s existing production capacity of 525 kV extruded submarine cables and 400 kV AC cables by 2026.

“The investment is part of the around €500 million capex per year that the Group is implementing to support the energy transition, electrification and digitalization processes, which require the upgrade of power grids and telecom networks,” said Prysmian Group COO Massimo Battaini. He noted that the massive investment plan was made possible thanks to the Group’s financial solidity and proven cash generation capability.

The release said that the global power transmission cable market is expected to grow to €15 billion by 2030 from around €8 billion reported in 2022.

“Our global strategy is to rely on three state-of-the-art power transmission cable hubs: one in Northern Europe, thanks to the increasing investments in the Pikkala plant in Finland, another one in the Mediterranean area, where we are investing around €100 million in the existing plant in Arco Felice, Italy, and the third one is the completely new submarine cable plant in the U.S., Massachusetts, serving the very high potential North American market,” said EVP Projects BU Hakan Ozmen. “This will allow us to support our customers’ needs, while also continuing to pursue our own climate change commitments,” commented Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects BU.

The release said that Prysmian’s 525 kV submarine cable technology is specifically designed to support the energy transition thanks to its key features that enable a massive increase in transmission capacity to 2 GW, which is more than double the value achieved with the 320 kV DC systems currently in service.

“This investment confirms the strategic importance of the Pikkala plant, which is already considered the Group’s energy transition flagship factory,” said Prysmian Group Finland CEO Ferdinando Quartuccio. “Thanks to its switch to green energy sources, this plant is to date the first cable plant in the world to have achieved the net-zero goal.”

NEC Corp. has signed a contract with the consortium behind the East Micronesia Cable System (EMCS) to construct, supply, and install a 2,250 km submarine cable network that will connect four islands within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati and Nauru.

Per multiple media reports, the undersea cable—estimated to cost US$95 million—will connect the state of Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia, Tarawa in Kiribati and Nauru to the existing cable landing point located in Pohnpei in Micronesia. The cable consortium comprises FSM Telecommunications Cable Corp. (FSMTCC) in the FSM, BwebwerikiNet Ltd. of the Republic of Kiribati, and Nauru Fibre Cable Corp. of the Republic of Nauru.

The governments of Australia, Japan, and the U.S. will provide grant funding for the submarine cable project. The goal is to connect the East Micronesia island nations to improve networks in the Indo-Pacific region where China is increasingly expanding its influence. In a joint statement, the parties said the next steps involve a final survey and design and manufacturing of the cable. The project is scheduled for completion in 2025.

The announcement came a few weeks after leaders of the Quad, a security alliance of Japan, the United States, Australia and India, emphasized the importance of undersea cables as a critical component of communications infrastructure and the foundation for internet connectivity.“Secure and resilient digital connectivity has never been more important,” said a statement from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. “The United States is delighted to be part of this project bringing our region closer together.”

The cable will connect more than 100,000 people across the three Pacific countries, according to Kazuya Endo, director general of the international cooperation bureau at the Japanese Foreign Ministry. 

“Kosrae is the only state in FSM that remains without a submarine cable connection,” said Gordon Segal, CEO of FSMTCC and chairman of the EMCS management committee. “This project will support equal access to digital connectivity across all four states of FSM and greatly enhance our ability to access information and essential services. We thank all our project partners for their support and collaboration.”

“With the recent progress of digitalization, internet connectivity and access to digital technologies ... it is a great honor that the NEC Group can use its many years of experience in
optical submarine cable technology to contribute to the access to information and communications for residents, businesses, and governments of Pacific Island countries,” said Atsushi Kuwahara, managing director of the Submarine Network Division at NEC.