Lighting Industry

  By Geoffrey Marlow, Founder & President, Marlow Advisory Group Editor’s Note: This article was originally a LinkedIn post by Geoffrey Marlow, reprinted with permission. Special thanks to Geoffrey Marlow.   For years we’ve been told that technology would eventually disintermediate the electrical distributor. Manufacturers would sell direct. Contractors would buy online. Digital marketplaces would [...]

  A new study of 7,704 employees at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center adds a significant data point to the ongoing return-to-office (RTO) debate—one with implications for lighting manufacturers, lighting design firms, agencies, rep firms, distributors and other organizations competing for specialized lighting talent. Researchers compared employee outcomes across fully remote, hybrid [...]

  There are different scales of battery energy storage systems (BESS): Utility Scale Commercial & Industrial Building Scale Residential Scale Utility Scale BESS U.S. utility-scale battery storage is expanding at an enormous pace, averaging 70% annual growth over the past three years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s preliminary generator inventory data. The country [...]

  I recently learned about a new type of software for lighting manufacturers that strattles many of the typically siloed configurators, CRMs, PIMs, spec sheet generators, AI analytics, branded portals for reps and specifiers, and product spec search. Electrify Connect is positioning itself as a unified software platform for lighting manufacturers seeking to modernize the [...]

  July 24th, the American Lighting Association (ALA) published a Tariff Alert summarizing the latest Section 301 Tariffs put in place by the Trump Administration. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has finalized a new tariff framework under Section 301 targeting 60 trading partners over forced labor enforcement. These new duties take effect immediately and [...]

  The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest commentary argues that lighting is entering a second major transition after the global shift to LEDs. The first wave was defined by rapid efficiency gains, falling costs, and long lifetimes that helped LEDs dominate global markets and curb electricity demand, energy bills, and emissions. Now, the IEA says [...]

  The specialty lighting sector is moving from a seasonal add-on to a year-round service category, driven by professional holiday displays, permanent roofline systems, landscape accents, and event lighting for homes and businesses. For years, holiday lighting was viewed as a short-lived seasonal service, driven mainly by homeowners who wanted a festive display for a [...]

  A recent Washington Post article argues that the labor-market problem is bigger than AI: employers are struggling to find enough qualified workers while new graduates are finding it hard to land entry-level jobs because the pipeline of talent is misaligned with what companies actually need. The article explains that the popular story that AI [...]

  Q2 2026 Lighting Manufacturer M&A Transactions in the United States, Canada, and Europe Announcement Seller Country Description Buyer Details April Nanometer USA Small architectural lighting and illuminated surfaces manufacturer Aither Global Holdings Article April NLS Lighting USA Outdoor spec-grade LED lighting Schreder Article April Photinus Austria Outdoor solar lighting systems Schreder Article May Disano [...]