June 6, 2023
NAED President & CEO Tom Naber Resigns
Ed Orlet steps in as Interim CEO
The National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) announced the resignation of President and CEO Tom Naber on June 2, 2023.
Naber, who served NAED for over a quarter-century, had reportable compensation of $459,218 in 2019 and $387,476 in 2020, according to the organization's most recently published IRS filings.
During Naber's tenure in recent years, NAED experienced fluctuations in its financial performance. The organization recorded $2.99 million in revenue in 2019 with a net loss of $73,457. However, in the pandemic-impacted year of 2020, NAED reported $1.9 million in revenue and a net loss of $182,706.
Ed Orlet, Senior Vice-President of Government Affairs and Strategic Projects, is set to step in as Interim CEO. In conjunction, the NAED Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, led by NAED Chair John Cain, have commenced the search for a permanent successor. Orlet has been with the organization since 2001 in roles of increasing responsibility.
Naber initially joined NAED as Publisher of tED magazine in 1997, becoming the association President in 2001, and subsequently being promoted to CEO in 2008. Throughout his time with NAED, the organization has navigated the pandemic, developed an array of new products, services, and training tools, and has been positioned as a reliable source for industry research and data.
The announcement from NAED cited that this news "comes after an incredibly successful NAED National Meeting in Marco Island, Florida." In David Gordon's recent Electrical Trends article, "2023 NAED National … Slow", Gordon reported that in the days before the organization's NAED 2023 National Meeting, there were 492 registrants with approximately one-third cited as distributor attendees.
