December 16, 2022
Stunner: KSA Exec to Lead New Chicago Cooper Lighting Agency
Ashley Williams is the sole Principal of startup Cooper agent, The Lighting Digest
As December 31 approaches, so does the end of a six-year Chicago partnership between Cooper Lighting Solutions and the lighting agent they helped open for business, Force Partners. Following a November announcement that Cooper and Force are parting ways, many local lighting people have been speculating who each company will be dancing with in the new year.
One part of the Chicago lighting mystery has now been solved with the announcement that Cooper Lighting Solutions has aligned with startup lighting agency, The Lighting Digest. The sole principal of the agency is Ashley Williams, who for the past 13 years has been employed by market-leading lighting agent, KSA Lighting & Controls. KSA is believed by many to be the highest-revenue Acuity Brands agent in North America.
In late November, the inside.lighting I-Team uncovered a notable recent business filing in the State of Illinois that was possibly connected to the recent Chicago lighting market shifts. On November 1, Ashley Williams of KSA Lighting & Controls filed a new business registration with the State of Illinois for a business called “The Lighting Digest, LLC.” Ten days later, a new website domain, www.TheLightingDigest.com, was created and registered to an anonymous owner. The site’s home page has been in “Under Construction” status since the I-Team discovered it on November 30. The office address of The Lighting Digest is in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, located just 4.2 miles from KSA’s headquarters in nearby Itasca, Illinois.
Ashley Williams did not respond to our multiple requests for comment from November 30 to December 15. inside.lighting did not publish our findings because we were unable to verify the hearsay from numerous Chicago lighting people indicating that Ashley Williams was going to be part of the new Cooper Lighting agency.
The KSA Connection
Ashley Williams has left her role of Vice President at KSA and for the last six years, has been married to longtime KSA Principal, Jim Williams. Ashley Williams explained to us that she is 19 years younger than Jim Williams and at 38 years old, she is “a career driven woman” and has a professional drive that inspires her to accomplish more in her career.
Jim Williams is currently President and CEO of KSA Lighting & Controls. He is also the Chairman of the Board. In a Friday afternoon conversation Jim Williams, he informed us “I am not going anywhere.” He went on to say that he plans on being at KSA in his current role for many years.
In August, KSA became an employee-owned company (ESOP) which likely initiated a significant payoff to Jim Williams and may also hold him to non-competition and/or non-solicitation of customer covenants for a period of time. Ashley Williams, individually, was not party to the ESOP ownership payoff.
Ashley Williams informed us that after the ESOP was finalized, she was eager to explore new career challenges and began cold-calling various non-KSA lighting manufacturers in hopes of building a new Chicagoland lighting agency.
After many conversations with Cooper Lighting, Ashley Williams felt six weeks ago that the possible deal to represent Cooper was at risk of being aborted. In context of the Cooper Lighting talks she mentioned that she was “not going to be bullied” but did not elaborate further. Alas the parties were able to arrive at an agreement for Ashley Williams and The Lighting Digest to be the new Cooper Lighting agent in Chicago.
Ashley Williams informed us that she expects to hire staff and partner with additional manufacturers in the first quarter of 2023, but did not provide further explanation other than to state that she will not be trying to recruit current KSA employees to join The Lighting Digest.
The husband wife duo of 1990s political heavyweights James Carville and Mary Matalin demonstrated that marital love can thrive despite competing professional interests. But how will this new Ashley Williams partnership with Cooper Lighting affect the mood at KSA Lighting & Controls? What will Acuity Brands think of this? How will Chicagoland distributors and specifiers process this?
After a decades-long Chicagoland partnership with Pilipuf-Grist, now PG Enlighten, ended in 2016, Cooper Lighting helped startup agency Force Partners enter the market. Force Partners eventually joined forces with longtime Chicago architectural lighting agent Morr-Sharp Associates. In November 2022, Cooper Lighting and Force Partners announced a mutual decision to end the partnership by choosing to not renew the sales representation agreement that is set to expire on December 31. And effective January 15, Cooper Lighting will begin its partnership with The Lighting Digest.
The Chicago Lighting Agent Lawsuit
This new Ashley Williams-Cooper partnership adds a new twist to the ongoing litigation that involves Force Partners suing KSA, Acuity Brands – as well as Jim Williams and Ashley Williams individually – alleging a conspiracy among the defendants that forced Chicago-area lighting and controls distributors to boycott Force Partners.
On Tuesday of this week, all parties met for mediation to possibly settle the 3+ year legal battle. All parties are under a gag order and cannot comment on what occurred during the mediation. It’s possible that the parties have reached a settlement in principle – which will likely lead to closing the books on the lawsuit. It’s also possible that mediation bore no fruit and that the lawsuit carries over to 2023. We expect court filings in the upcoming days or weeks to provide more insights into the case status.
If the lawsuit is not settled, all of these recent market shifts will create some intriguing new arguments for the Plaintiff’s case. Among many accusations, Force Partners has accused Ashley Williams, individually, of wrongdoing that allegedly damaged Force Partners. Now, three years later Ms. Williams ends up partnering with Force Partners’ largest, most-coveted manufacturer-partner, Cooper Lighting. This will undoubtedly lead to more intriguing arguments in court if the litigation continues.
Related: Chicago Lighting Agent Lawsuit Settles »
What's next?
The Chicago market shifts are likely not done as Force Partners is expected to announce plans for its agency in 2023. With the departure of the Cooper Lighting business, locals expect Force Partners to pursue other major lighting lines and possibly merge with another local agency. The inside.lighting I-Team will stay connected to the market and report on any future developments.
Cooper Lighting distributed the announcement linked below to the Chicago lighting market at 1:30pm CST on Friday.
