A few days later, my next stop was at Luma Smart, in Macomb, Michigan, where Justin Palm, VP of Marketing, gave me a tour of the plant and engineering facilities.
He made sure I understood that I cannot see or photograph the section where they are working on ‘military and national security projects’. It’s a huge market and I was just glad they are getting some of the action. Back in his office, “…the same engineers at Luma Smart who were making tail lights a few years are now making Broadway lights” proudly stated Justin, pointing to a large photo on the wall.
The photo of a huge LED out-door sign, about four stories high, on the face of a building in Times Square, New York City. My jaw dropped when he said that not only did they design and manufacture this sign right here in Michigan, but they made it solar and wind powered. Back to the subject of bread and butter work, Justin showed me (on line) a catalog of exterior lighting I’d call industrial strength. LumaSmart’s exterior LED lighting products use 50 to 90 percent less energy than conventional lights, and last up to 5 times longer. Factoring in both energy and maintenance cost savings results in a typical payback on investment of between 2 and 3 years. Nothing motivates decision makers more than saving money.