Mayer Electric Supply recently held a reception and celebration at their Birmingham headquarters office to honor Jim Summerlin on his retirement.   Hundreds of Mayer associates, customers, and suppliers gathered to give recognition and a warm send-off to the highly respected past-President of Mayer, industry leader, and friend. 

     “People come and go in our business, but Jim Summerlin is one person in this industry whose absence will truly be felt,” offered Rick Latham, President of Bishop & Brogden, a manufactures’ agent in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.  “I’ve had business dealings with Jim for the past 35 years and he is a first-class person, a man of integrity, and a gentleman.”

     Nancy Collat Goedecke, Mayer’s Chairman, offered a special tribute to Jim, which included a description of some of Mayer’s achievements that came from Jim’s work, guidance, and under his leadership.  “When Jim joined Mayer back in 1975 our sales were $22 million and we had just a couple of locations in Alabama and one in Georgia.   Today we have 50 locations in eight states, and our sales are over $500 million.   Jim Summerlin played a very big part in that growth.”
“Jim’s contributions to Mayer will be part of our company’s heritage forever and we can think of no better way to pay homage to that than to establish an ongoing scholarship in Jim’s name,” she continued.  “The James T. Summerlin Scholarship will be given annually to the children of Mayer associates, and will continue to give recognition to Jim for years to come.”

     Jim Summerlin was an associate of Mayer Electric Supply since 1975.  He joined the company as an outside account manager and through the years held positions as branch manager, division manager, President, and Vice Chairman.  He joined Mayer after having been a field sales engineer with a manufacturer. Jim is a past Chairman of the National Association of Electrical Distributors and has held leadership positions in Affiliated Distributors, including being a member of their Board of Directors.  Jim has served on the advisory boards of a number of electrical product manufacturers.

     Mayer Electric Supply is a wholesale-distributor of electrical equipment and supplies, lighting, factory automation, tools and communications.  The company serves contractors, industrials, utilities, commercial businesses and institutions with new construction and maintenance components, parts, equipment and supplies.  Mayer is a third-generation, family-owned business founded in Birmingham, Alabama in 1930.  The company is also a certified woman-owned business.  Mayer serves customers in eight southeastern states with 50 locations and over 800 associates.