LINDEN, NJ – Turtle & Hughes has promoted four seasoned executives with close to 90 years of combined service to the company. New Senior Vice Presidents include Norman Blumenthal and Billy Wresch; earning the rank of Vice President are Shiv Singh and Izabela Legocka.
“Our culture is based on a commitment to our people and providing them with the tools they need to be successful at all stages of their career,” said Kathleen Shanahan, CEO of Turtle & Hughes. “Nothing makes us prouder as an organization than to develop talent from within our ranks that results in a long-term commitment to growing our business through quality customer service as demonstrated by these four exemplar employees.”
Norman Blumenthal, Senior Vice President – Norman Blumenthal has spent his entire career at Turtle and is one of the company’s most tenured and successful salespeople. With 45 years of service, he leads the growth of Turtle’s electrical distribution business through the company’s Linden, NJ, team as Branch Manager.
Blumenthal joined Turtle in 1976, the same year the company moved its headquarters to Linden. He started in the warehouse and purchasing before moving into sales. In 1988 when Turtle made its first acquisition, Blumenthal was tapped as Branch Manager. He then went on to operate the company’s first Central Distribution Center in Bridgewater, NJ, before returning to Linden as Sales Manager. In 2013, he was named Branch Manager in Linden, the company’s largest and most successful office, where he mentors a new generation of employees companywide.
Blumenthal graduated from Yeshiva University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He resides in Teaneck, NJ, with his wife. The couple have three children and a grandson.
Billy Wresch: Senior Vice President – Billy Wresch leads the Industrial division, which includes the Rockwell Automation business in New York and New Jersey, and the company’s operation in Southern California. In addition, he is an Executive Sponsor of the company’s ecommerce and CRM strategies.
Wresch joined Turtle in 2013 with the acquisition of Mid-Island Electrical Supply where he served for close to 20 years working his way up to President. Under his leadership, the company experienced its single greatest growth period. Earlier in his career, he was Purchasing Manager for a New York-based electrical distributor after working for close to ten years as a government bond trader and broker.
He is a graduate of Pace University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. He is a company delegate and former Product Committee Member of Affiliated Distributors (AD) and a former Eastern Regional Board Member of the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED). He and his wife reside in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, and have two grown sons.
Shiv Singh, Vice President – With 15 years of service, Singh has spent his entire career at Turtle and makes his mark as the company’s youngest-ever Vice President. He currently serves as the Lighting Department Manager, which specializes in lighting fixtures and control systems working in coordination with contactors, engineers and architects.
Singh joined the Turtle Management Training program in 2004 after graduating college. He then moved to the Accounting Department before finding his calling in Lighting Sales. In 2012, he was named Lighting Department Manager. He has led his team to six consecutive years of net gross profit increase while growing the business 400 percent by cultivating great customer relationships.
He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Psychology. He and his wife reside in Howell Township, NJ, with their two young children.
Izabela Legocka, Vice President – With over 21 years at Turtle, Izabela Legocka is responsible for all IT applications in an organization with a strong focus on digital transformation, technology and process improvements. She directs integrations of multiple applications with the company’s ERP system; develops application solutions; and determines system requirements and modifications.
In 2009, Legocka was named Director of IT. Shortly after, she was chosen as Project Manager for a new enterprise system. The entire data conversion process, including five years of historical transactions, was achieved within a short 12-hour window. Earlier this year, she managed a major system upgrade for easier integration with third party software while maintaining several in-house software customizations. Legocka joined Turtle in 1999 as a computer programmer.
She is a graduate of Middlesex County College with an Associate’s degree in Computer Science. She lives in Whitehouse Station, NJ, with her husband and one of their two sons.
Turtle & Hughes has close to 100 years of market experience and ranks among the top 20 electrical distribution companies nationwide. It is an independent, woman-owned business that services the industrial, construction, commercial, electrical contracting, export and utility markets.
