May 3, 2022

Key Executive Moves at Cooper Lighting Solutions

Ken Walma, VP & General Manager, departs for CEO opportunity

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – After a 15-year run with Cooper Lighting Solutions, Ken Walma, VP & General Manager, is departing for an opportunity with another company.

Ken joined Cooper Lighting from Lutron in 2007 to help lead its then-early-stage lighting controls business. After multiple positions with increasing responsibility, Walma eventually managed a large $1+ billion segment of the overall business as Vice President and General Manager.

Eric Jerger, a 14-year Cooper Lighting veteran and fellow Lutron alumnus, will move into the VP and General Manager role to lead the company’s Commercial & Industrial business.

Walma informed inside.lighting that he will soon be joining another company in the role of CEO. The announcement is expected to be made in the coming days. Walma tells us that his new employer is not a lighting company, but is in the building materials space.

A Cooper Lighting spokesperson shared the following statement:
Ken Walma, vice president and general manager, Cooper Lighting Solutions, is leaving the company to pursue a new professional endeavor. Ken has had a long and impactful career in the lighting and controls industry and has been instrumental in shaping the Cooper Lighting Solutions business. We wish him all the best in his next venture.

[UPDATED 4:16PM] Cooper Lighting President, Kraig Kasler, shared this announcement with the company's agent partners: