Comunale named president of Tri-Ed/Northern Video

WOODBURY, N.Y.—Pat Comunale was named president of Tri-Ed/Northern Video Distribution yesterday, one of several personnel changes at the newly merged distribution giant.

“James Rothstein is taking over as EVP of sales and marketing for the U.S. and Paul Swan will be VP sales and marketing for Canada,” Comunale told Security Systems News.

The moves don't signal any change in the day-to-day operations however, as all three are key members of the existing team, Comunale noted

Comunale has held senior management roles in both distribution and manufacturing organizations over the past 25 years, and was part of the team that purchased Tri-Ed Distribution form Tyco International in 2005.

“Pat has been instrumental in bringing together Tri-Ed Distribution and Northern Video,” said Steve Roth, CEO of Tri-Ed / Northern Video Distribution in a prepared statement. “Having known Pat for over 20 years, I can confidently say he is one of the best distribution executives in the entire industry. He has earned the respect of his peers, customers and supplier partners.”

Brazos Private Equity Partners purchased Tri-Ed and Northern Video to merge the two in March.

The integration of the companies' IT networks to one platform was completed on schedule on July 1, Comunale said. “It was an incredible task and a testament to the team we have here; we haven't missed a beat in terms of integration.”

In June, the company acquired a California distributor. “I think it's clear that we're positioning ourselves as a significant independent distributor,” Comunale said. “We already feel that we're the largest independent distributor and we're going to continue to grow our footprint throughout North America.”

The addition of Northern Video brought increased focus and capability in the IP space, Comunale noted, and more Tri-Ed/Northern customers are taking advantage of the multiple training opportunities the distributor offers every month. “We've trained more than 1,000 dealers in IP video in 2010,” he said. It's been a mix of dealers who already do some IP camera work and others who have not. They're realizing that “if they want to compete downstream, they'll have to learn emerging technologies.”