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LED Dynamics Lighting
Perhaps pointing to a new direction for Vermont industry, a high-tech company is growing rapidly at the former Ethan Allen furniture factory in Randolph. The company, LED Dynamics, develops and produces a line of lighting systems, components, and circuitry that president Bill McGrath thinks will replace conventional and fluorescent bulbs. "In ten years, there won’t be a lot of other types of lighting around," he said. LED stands for "light-emitting diode," and LED Dynamics creates highly advanced versions of a technology that began in the 1960s with small indicator lights in ovens and stereos. It has now developed into an exciting technology with ever-expanding uses. The Randolph company, for instance, has designed lighting systems for the Blue Man Group and for a recent production of "The Magic Flute" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The firm employs about 30 people, and wages in the industry are high. After a few decades of development, McGrath said lights like the ones produced by LED Dynamics use half as much energy as fluorescents and last for a decade or longer. The company was founded in Rochester in 2000 by Peter Rahm, who quickly hired McGrath, then a full-time professor at Vermont Technical College. The future of the company wasn’t clear back then. "When we first started, it seemed like we were a long way from having a competitive product," McGrath said. However, in 2003 the company had its first breakthrough with a flashlight bulb that increased battery life by six to ten times. That year, beginning to succeed and needing more space, LED Dynamics took the opportunity to "fill the gap" at the Ethan Allen building and moved to Randolph. And now, demand for the company’s many products is "so high, we’re having trouble getting them out fast enough," McGrath said. Unknown Story Despite the company’s success, McGrath said that few Vermont residents—or even Randolph residents—know about the company. To help raise awareness, McGrath recently gave Governor Jim Douglas a tour of the factory. "I think he was surprised to find out about us," McGrath said. Other states are trying to woo LED companies, and McGrath feels that Vermont could do more to help businesses like his stay competitive. He suggested that one way the state could help LED Dynamics would be to offer low-interest loans. McGrath is also a part-time professor of electronic and computer telecommunications at Vermont Technical College. He explained that LEDs are a silicon-based technology that works "like a computer chip." The LEDs release electrons as light, a more efficient process than conventional and fluorescent technologies. McGrath said some LEDs are about twice as efficient as fluorescent light, and said this energy efficiency is a huge selling point. "Consumers are very interested in energy savings. Even though there’s an expensive one-time cost [for LED products], people take into account the high cost of energy, and it’s also true that we don’t know yet how much more expensive energy is going to get in the future." The energy efficiency of LED lights also means that Efficiency Vermont offers rebates on them, and the recently-formed Town Energy Committee may look into them, according to committee member Peter Butterfield. Another advantage of LED lights is that they never burn out all at once. Products such as the recently-developed EverLED, which looks like a standard fluorescent tube and fits into standard fluorescent fixtures, "just gradually get dimmer." "The material gets brown over time, but the bulbs will still be at 70% of their original brightness in ten years," McGrath said. "We market them as having a 10-year lifespan, but there’s no reason they won’t last longer." McGrath said this feature makes the lights valuable for factories and other places where light bulbs are difficult to access and replace. They Like the Cold Another characteristic of the lights is that unlike fluorescents, which flicker in cold temperatures, LEDs "work better in the cold—the colder it is, the brighter they are." In fact, one of the major uses for LEDs is in freezers, McGrath said. And because LED lights don’t have any fragile glass or delicate filaments, they are quite sturdy, and are often used on loading docks, where conventional lights "were getting broken all the time," said McGrath. McGrath said LED lighting is also appropriate for architects, retailers, and theater companies, since LED light is "naturally full-spectrum" but can be made to produce "any color or light," and even to be adjustable to different colors. Photos on the walls inside LED Dynamics show dramatically-lit buildings and cosmetics displays the company has developed. The color technology has also allowed many cities to switch their street lights over to LEDs, McGrath said. McGrath is proud of the fact that the technology and its manufacturing process are "clean." Unlike conventional and fluorescent lights, LEDs contain no mercury or lead, which are toxic. "There are no safety hazards," he said. "Usually solder has lead, which makes it easier to work with, but we started from the beginning lead-free." When they are used up, the lights can be returned to the company, which will recycle all of the components. And the cost? More than conventional lights or fluorescents. For example, the EverLED costs about $150 per bulb. McGrath said that the technology is advancing rapidly and prices have already come down significantly. "If we had released the EverLED last year, it would have sold for $400." At this point in time, LED Dynamics has all the buyers it can handle, but is having a harder time finding enough employees. McGrath said the company is "working on a growth plan." He said one reason he wants Vermont residents to know about his company is because "jobs are there and they’re paying a fortune." McGrath said that starting salaries for engineers in the field are over $100,000 a year. The company currently employs about 30 people at the Randolph factory, about half of whom are Vermont Technical College graduates. McGrath said he hopes that the company will be able to find enough employees and state aid to be able to remain and grow in Vermont. "I’m a Vermonter and I want to stay here," he said. |
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