Aaron Folkening was named president of Marmon Industrial Energy & Infrastructure (IEI). He has a proven history of leadership of the company’s business unit, having been part of Marmon Holdings, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company and parent company of Marmon IEI, since 2007. He has served as the vice president of finance for four groups, most recently serving within Marmon’s Electrical Group. He succeeds Chris Venice, who retired as president of Marmon IEI after 20 years. He will serve as a senior vice president for Marmon IEI, focusing on key strategic initiatives and remaining a trusted business advisor for the IEI team. Based in East Granby, Connecticut, Marmon IEI, a division of Marmon Electrical, offers a wide range of wire and cable products and solutions.

OmniCable, LLC, reported multiple recent additions to personnel. Jeremy Crosby is the company’s national account manager. He has more than eight years of experience in the electrical industry. He previously was the regional sales manager at nVent Hoffman, and previously ran several CED locations in the Southeast. New appointments for the company’s Communications Business Unit include Todd Rhen, vice president of broadband sales, who is responsible for a team consisting of both outside and inside sales personnel. He has more than 26 years of industry experience, most recently as senior vice president of sales at Comstar Supply for nearly 10 years. He also held similar sales and leadership roles at Graybar, Prysmian, Draka and Alcatel. Steven Scudder joins OmniCable as outside sales manager – broadband. He held senior sales roles with OFS, Prysmian, Superior Essex and American Polywater, among others. Lacy Worn is a key account manager – enterprise. He has over 20 years of experience as a sales leader and contributor at Wesco/CSC. He will support the company’s southern region. Based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, OmniCable LLC is a redistributor selling wire, cable, fiber, and other communications and electrical products exclusively to distributors.

Brad Comstock has been promoted to sales manager for International Wire, High Performance Conductors Division. He joined the company in 2011 as a sales representative for its bare wire division. Based in Inman, South Carolina, the International Wire Group’s High Performance Conductors Division produces specialty high performance conductors for the aerospace, medical, automotive, computer, telecommunications, mass transportation, geophysical and electronics markets.

Obituary
Joseph (Joe/Fuzzy) Frederick Pistell, a longtime employee of R.H. Miller, died at age 91 at his home in Cortland, New York. Pistell earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Syracuse University. He worked as a chemical engineer and sales manager for R.H. Miller, Pennwalt Corporation, for more than 30 years. During his tenure there he developed three products that were patented. He also served for a short time in the U.S. Army and then in the National Guard for eight years. He enjoyed traveling and spending time with his family and friends, especially his best friend of more than 80 years, Harold Miller. He is survived by his sons Joseph and Lee Pistell, a step-daughter, and three great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his wife, René, and daughter, Laura.

The WAI’s Ohio Valley Chapter (OVC) is preparing for its golf tournament on Aug. 22 at the Kensington Golf Club in Canfield, Ohio, where the event will begin with the two split elements: the golf tournament (8 am start) and the first-ever Marksmanship & Accuracy Instruction (MAI) Event.

The golfers will head to the links at the golf club while those who signed up for the MAI program will go to The Training Range, Inc., a firearms training, indoor range and firearms center in Austintown, Ohio.

Some non-golfers have chosen that path on their own in past years, and now that option has been clearly spelled out. Those that wish to do this need to be at the target range, at 4445 Mahoning Ave, Austintown, about 15 minutes away from the golf course and the Courtyard Hotel. Per Rick Bray, WAFIOS Machinery Corp., participants will sit in on a brief range safety course at 8:50 am, and the range will be available from 9 am to 11 am. For further details contact Bray at tel. 475-414-6130 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The program will allow participants to go to the site in the morning and return to the golf course in plenty of time to sit in on the educational program and awards banquet.

The scheduled speakers are Dave Brambert, president of Fifth Wave Manufacturing (AI in Manufacturing); Tim Moury, president and CEO of Vericheck Technical Services, Inc., and Technical Director Marco Degasperi (metal analyzing equipment and ISO17025 accredited training and services); and Steve Lebischak, founder of Polara Golf (self-correcting golf ball technology).

For more details and to register, go to the Chapter website or contact WAI Member Services Manager Corey Flynn at tel. 203-453-2777, ext. 128,

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In a short time, the WAI has made significant strides in its online learning and professional development platform.

WAI staff is in the process of developing content and building out the platform. It is set for a soft launch later this year, with a full release at the beginning of 2025. One of the first offerings will be an introductory course on Ferrous Metallurgy, which is already nearing completion, alongside 12 general manufacturing safety courses. Each one consists of short videos, none lasting more than five minutes. Each module includes knowledge checks throughout the videos. Upon completing a module, learners receive a certificate of completion.

If you are interested in knowing more about the program and receiving early access to the platform
during the soft launch phase, contact John Markowski, project manager, education, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or 203-458-4044.

Readers can expect to see more news about the video learning platform in this section in future issues.   

Attendees of Interwire and the Global Continuous Casting Forum will find that extensive educational sessions and forums programs will await them in 2025 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Below is a quick look at the elements that will be offered.

• Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing Course. Leading off the event, this full-day, essential primer on wire manufacturing processes, will be held Monday, May 12, 2025.

• The Interwire Conference Program.
This will include a series of presentations and panels addressing the latest industry trends and innovations. It also includes the above-cited workshop, which is limited to 50 participants. Future issues will hone in on the specifics for the other elements.

• The Global Continuous Casting Forum.

This dedicated conference, being held for the fourth time, will address advances in continuous casting.

• Production Solutions
To be held in the WAI Theater on the show floor, open to all, the session will include presentations on precoats/lubricants, wire breaks and wire drawing dies. The WAI Theater will also host several bonus technical sessions and the Mordica Lecture.

Details regarding the call for papers and sponsorship opportunities for Interwire 2025 can be found at
interwire25.com.

As part of its commitment to expanding educational offerings, the Wire Association International will debut a new dynamic program—Advanced Extrusion Workshop—at Interwire 2025.

The workshop, to be held from 9 am to noon on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, will build on the extrusion principles introduced by Erik Macs in the Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing course on Monday, May 12. It will be presented by Rick Chamberlain and a co-instructor.

The workshop is designed to take participants to the next level of understanding and application. The capacity will be limited to 50 participants. Participants will engage in breakout sessions to ensure a comprehensive, dynamic learning experience. The workshop will also include visits to exhibitors to witness extrusion machinery in action