"A Bright Idea" Retrofit Lighting Training Reaches 250+ HNA Customers

Melanie Hardy discusses Green Building trends at the retrofit seminar in Richmond, Virginia. Paul Ross, Hubbell Lighting, fields a question about their retrofit lighting products. Customers gather to see the latest energy saving lamps from Philips Lighting at the mini trade show during the HNA Lighting Retrofit Lighting Seminar.

Over 250 electrical contractors attended Hagemeyer North America’s "A Bright Idea," Retrofit Lighting training seminars conducted by the C&I (Contractor & Installer) segment during a 10-city tour in September. HNA market cities in MD, NC, PA, SC, GA, and VA were included in the training series. The goal of the seminars was to raise awareness in the electrical contractor community of the opportunity that exists for energy savings through lighting and how they can participate in and profit from the demand for retrofits in their markets.

Customer guests learned about the trends and conditions in their individual geographies including such topics as market size, utility rates, rebates and incentives, Green Buildings and LEED, EPAct, and the impact of federal stimulus money. The program also included presentations by Philips Lighting and Hubbell Lighting, Lithonia, and Cooper-Metalux. Customers had the opportunity to see products firsthand during a mini-trade show at lunch and received free light meter at the conclusion of each meeting.

"Even in this economy, most smart companies can’t afford not to make investments in retrofits due to the great ROI opportunities," said David Blackwood, HNA VP GM Carolinas. "The contractor has the relationship with their customer, often the decision-maker, which opens an additional avenue for them to gain revenue while the traditional construction is slow."

Commenting on the large customer turnout, Tom Saady, HNA VP Product Strategy Electrical, said, "The feedback has been great and this is the kind of training that helps separate us from our competition."

Bob Preston, HNA Energy & Lighting Services and Melanie Hardy, HNA Manager of Sustainable Development coordinated the seminar presentations and conducted the seminars. 

It was a great team effort by all that resulted in a successful, informative event for our contractor customers.