About B&B Trading
Surplus Electrical Wholesale Since 1983 — Webster, MA
Origin
Started by a contractor. Built on relationships.
B&B Trading was founded in 1983 by Ellis "Cappy" Bateman — a Webster-area electrical contractor who learned the trade from his own father and never lost his love of a good deal. What started as a contractor's instinct for finding value in surplus and excess electrical materials grew into one of the most trusted names in wholesale electrical distribution in New England. Cappy ran the business the way tradespeople run everything — straight, personal, and built on relationships.
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Continuity
Sold to a customer. Not a corporation.
In 2017, Cappy sold B&B Trading to Bill Donahue — not to a private equity firm, not to a national distributor, but to a 35-year veteran of the electrical distribution industry who had been a customer of Cappy's for decades. Bill grew up in Milford, MA, the son of Bill Donahue III, an electrician who also knew Cappy personally. The electrical trades have a way of running in families.
When the sale closed, Cappy's primary concern wasn't the sale price. It was the people — the long-term employees who had built the business alongside him and depended on it. That commitment was honored.
Jody, Lynn, Chrissy, Roy, Giselle, and Bob — all Cappy originals — are still on the floor in Webster today. If you've done business with B&B Trading before, there's a good chance you'll recognize the voice on the other end of the phone.
Today
Two locations. One straightforward business.
B&B Trading operates from two locations in Webster, MA — our Main Street office and our Dragon Road warehouse — and ships surplus and excess electrical materials to contractors, wholesalers, and industrial buyers throughout the continental United States. We specialize in circuit breakers and panels, switchgear, lighting fixtures, wiring devices, and electrical fittings, with direct stocking relationships with Siemens and Pass and Seymour / Legrand.
Bill Donahue also owns Crown Supply, a full-line electrical wholesale distributor serving Southern New England, and Security Supply, a fire alarm and life safety distributor. Crown Supply celebrates its 80th year in 2027. Security Supply marks its 50th. Together these businesses represent one of the deepest benches of trades-industry experience in the region — decades of combined history serving the electrical, security, and fire alarm professionals who build and maintain the built environment. B&B Trading is the surplus and wholesale arm of that family. When you buy here, you're buying from people who came up in the same industry you did, who understand what you need and why you need it fast, and who have been doing this long enough to do it right.
Shop at ease knowing you're dealing with people who can relate to you
Shop at ease knowing you're dealing with people who can relate to you — tradespeople, distributors, and leaders who have served your industry for decades. We want to see you succeed. That's not a marketing line. It's how this business was built, and it's how we intend to keep it.