The Marketing Minute: Staying Positive When the Market Isn’t
Marcy’s Musings: Continuing to Invent the Future With SEL
It’s Only Common Sense: Why Failure Is an Opportunity for Growth
Insulectro Announces Passing of Company Sales Legend Neil Colgrove
December 5, 2023 | InsulectroEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Insulectro, the largest distributor of materials for use in manufacture of printed circuit boards and printed electronics, sadly announces the passing of company sales legend Neil Colgrove.
“The Insulectro family lost one of its founding salesmen this year. Neil Colgrove passed away recently. For those who did not have the pleasure of meeting him, Neil was key to the success of the company as it stands today. He made a large impact on all of us, including Robert Straccia, former Vice President of Sales, another essential founding partner of Insulectro,” stated Don Redfern, Insulectro Chairman.
Although the three original partners – Redfern, Straccia, and Colgrove – were all focused on the vitality of sales as an early driving force of Insulectro, Colgrove was affectionately credited as the company’s “first salesman.”
“Neil was the first salesperson hired by Insulectro. He was often referred to as ‘the number one employee of Insulectro,’” Robert A. Straccia recalled. “Working out of the Los Angeles area, Neil established our first branch office in San Diego and later opened the Arizona branch.
“Neil went on to be the first Insulectro 1-million-dollar branch manager and the southern regional manager” Straccia continued. “He later ran the OEM division of Insulectro.”
Don Redfern recalled, “Beyond his professional career, he was very much respected and admired by customers, suppliers, employees, and his friends. He was the most unselfish and caring person you could ever know. As for me, Neil was the most honest man I ever knew.”
“As branch manager of Insulectro’s Mountain View, CA facility, I got to know Neil very well. I was lucky enough to become a close friend of Neil. He helped me in many ways, both professionally and personally. When times got tough, he was always there to talk to and give sound advice,” Redfern continued.
Colgrove was born is Southern California. He was all conference as a high school quarterback. He went on to play football for USC. He played on the same team with Frank Gifford. After a lengthy career with Insulectro, Colgrove retired to San Clemente, CA where he passed away in October at the age of 93.
“For those of you in the industry that didn’t know Neil Colgrove, I hope you can understand what this man meant to Insulectro and to everyone that came his way. We lost a good friend. I know I did,” Straccia commented.
“Neil was a wonderful man who did so much for all of us,” Redfern concluded.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Advertising in PCB007 Magazine has been a great way to showcase our bare board testers to the right audience. The I-Connect007 team makes the process smooth and professional. We’re proud to be featured in such a trusted publication."
Klaus Koziol - atgSuggested Items
Meet the Round 1 Winners of the Bright Manufacturing Student Challenge 2025
08/20/2025 | Tara Dunn, SMTAThe Bright Manufacturing Student Challenge is an opportunity for student teams to design and develop innovative solutions for real-world electronics manufacturing problems. The eight-week competition, sponsored by the Electronics Manufacturing & Assembly Collaborative (EMAC) through electronicsworkforce.com, allows students to showcase their technical skills, creativity, and problem-solving abilities.
Technica Demo Days Event Proves to Be Beneficial to Customers
08/18/2025 | Technica USATechnica USA’s Demo Days Event, took place August 13–14 at the company’s Demo Center in San Jose, California. The event featured live demonstrations and presentations from key supply partners ESSEMTEC, INOVAXE, and PARMI showcasing the latest innovations in SMT manufacturing and automation technology.
Hall of Fame Spotlight Series: Highlighting Jerry Siegmund
08/15/2025 | Dan Feinberg, I-Connect007The Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame (HOF) Award has been awarded to those who have contributed significantly to the Global Electronics Association (formerly known as IPC) and our industry. Though many early HOF members have passed away and are unknown to today’s membership, their contributions still resonate. This special series on Hall of Fame members provides a reminder of who was honored and why.
Survey Says Reshoring is a TCO Equation
08/13/2025 | Nolan Johnson, SMT007 MagazineHarry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, and Kathy Nunnally of Regions Recruiting partnered to survey contract manufacturers and OEMs earlier this year, querying them about their offshoring beliefs and practices. They found that while offshoring, tariffs, trade balances, and the like, are important to a company’s bottom line, there’s a larger and more extensive issue: workforce. In this interview, they detail the results of that survey and what they believe can and should be done to fix this long-standing issue.
Dan’s Biz Bookshelf ‘House of Huawei'
08/14/2025 | Dan Beaulieu -- Column: Dan's Biz BookshelfEva Dou’s "House of Huawei" is one of the most gripping business books I’ve read in years, and believe me, I’ve read my fair share. This is not just another corporate biography. It’s a geopolitical thriller, except every word is true. People have painted the Chinese tech giant Huawei as a villain, a threat, and an enigma in equal measure. However, Dou cuts through the noise and delivers something few Western reporters have managed: a fair, balanced, and thoroughly researched look at the company everyone in tech has an opinion about, but few understand.