Lighting success
Success is shining on Selux USA., the lighting design, manufacturing and installation company that does international business on appropriately named Lumen Lane, between Route 9-W and the Hudson River in Highland.
An official grand opening of its latest 16,000-square-foot expansion is scheduled for April 23, celebrating the company”™s growth from five employees when it started in 1983 to the 130 employees now designing and making custom lighting equipment at the 68,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility completed this year.
“In this market it”™s hard to be competitive,” said Randy Adams, Selux production manager, who has been with the company for 20 years. Back when he started the company had 17 employees but since then he said, has experienced sales growth of 12-15 annually. “To see this place grow from where we were to the size we are now is amazing,” he said.
The secret to their success he said is ingenuity and a willingness to take on the tough jobs. “Our niche is doing  made to order,” said Adams. “We will make what others won”™t.”
Their “niche” is now resulting in some $30 million in annual sales and such high-profile installations as the new Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, New York City”™s 7 World Trade, and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Most recently SELUX delivered interior and exterior fixtures (worth more than $7 million) for the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Saudi Arabia.
The company designs and manufactures lighting systems for commercial buildings and public facilities, including parks and plazas. Adams said it is that flexibility and the ability to do both interior and exterior lighting that gives the company an advantage in the field.
The company also values its work force he said, doing in-house education and mentoring programs to help workers learn new skills and become proficient in the latest techniques for modern, eco-friendly lighting. “Mentoring and daily continuing education all applies here at Selux,” Adams said.
There are challenges the company most overcome. Some were highlighted by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who chose the Selux facility on April 6 as part of his whirlwind tour of manufacturing facilities around the state he used as backdrops for announcements of his pending legislation to reign in Chinese currency manipulation. Schumer said China may face large tariffs on its goods if it continues to defy requests to stop artificially maintaining a low exchange rate on its currency.
“The No. 1 issue for the people of New York is jobs and bringing back our economy,” Schumer said, as company officials stood nearby. “Getting the Chinese government to play by the rules of our economic system would be a huge step forward toward securing our economy and the manufacturing jobs of New Yorkers. It”™s vital that we get this done.”
Adams said that the company is not awaiting any federal action to improve matters, but is updating its product line with a new range of solar lighting options and energy efficient long-lasting LED fixtures. He said a dozen innovative products are being developed and past product lines are being retrofitted to allow for use of LED or solar fixtures.
“I don”™t think it”™s just a fad; it”™s what everyone is asking about,” said Adams. “Everyone is on the bandwagon.”