Universal Lighting Technologies Inc., a member of the Panasonic family, recently announced the hiring of Steve DeBlasi as the director of distribution sales in the Western United States and Western Canada. In this role, Steve will work to expand the channel and support growth of the company’s lighting solutions.

“As a well-respected lighting industry veteran, we are thrilled to add Steve to our team of talented industry professionals,” said Joe Damiani, executive vice president of sales & marketing at the company. “He brings extensive and diverse experience in distribution and ESCO sales with broad success working with key distribution and lighting contractors. His skills are a perfect match for our strategic objectives to expand LED market share and support our distribution partners.”

Steve has over 30 years of sales experience, and has worked closely with a wide range of customer sets, including OEMs, consulting engineers, architects, distributors, agents and end users. In previous roles, Steve has been credited with opening new markets, developing chain and distributor branch partners, working with buyer groups and delivering proven results for key accounts. Before coming to Universal, he has worked in a variety of roles at companies such as Osram Sylvania, Hubbell Incorporated and Toshiba.

In this role, Steve will maintain close relationships with agents, distributors, end users, electrical contractors, ESCOs, LMCs and lighting representative firms to grow distribution sales opportunities while providing strategic leadership. Steve’s role will be based in California.