February 22, 2025
5 Things to Know: February 22
Notable changes in Chicagoland. Plus an excruciating breakdown of a LEDucation strategy shift.
Here's a roundup of some of the week's happenings curated to help lighting people stay informed.
1. Genlyte Brands Unite Under Chicago Lightworks
Genlyte Solutions brands are consolidating under a single representative in Chicagoland, expanding its partnership with Chicago Lightworks starting April 1, 2025. The agency, which already represents Genlyte’s luminaire, connected lighting systems, and controls brands, will now also handle the Philips lamps and Advance electronics portfolios, including ballasts and drivers.
This shift follows the recent change in representation for Philips’ and Advance’s former partner, The Agency, which began a new partnership with Cree Lighting in Chicagoland in December 2024.
Founded in 2017 as a startup agency spun off from the former factory-direct Lightolier team in historic Elk Grove Village, Chicago Lightworks has built a strong reputation in the Chicago lighting market. The recent transition also ties into the relevance of Advance’s local offices, located in Rosemont, Illinois — just a 3-iron from O’Hare and a short walk from the iconic Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse.
2 . Mlazgar vs. Current: Six months until jury selection
A recent court order ensures that the schedule in the two-year-old breach of contract case, in which Mlazgar Associates — a Minnesota-based lighting agent and former partner of Current Lighting and Progress Lighting — is suing the two companies, remains on track, with discovery set to close on Monday, February 24. Mediation will proceed by March 7, 2025, followed by a deadline for dispositive motions on March 15, 2025.
However, an exception has been made for Hubbell Incorporated, the former parent company to Current and Progress, which has been granted a stay of discovery until the court rules on its pending motion to dismiss. The stay for Hubbell follows the company's late addition to the lawsuit and its argument that it should not be subject to discovery while seeking dismissal. The court agreed that pausing discovery for Hubbell alone would prevent unnecessary effort and expense, given that a successful dismissal would render further discovery against it irrelevant.
Additionally, Kingswood Capital Management, a non-party to the lawsuit and private equity firm that acquired Progress Lighting after the lawsuit was filed, recently secured a favorable ruling as the court granted its motion to quash a subpoena from Mlazgar. The court deemed the information sought irrelevant and overly burdensome for the non-party, effectively shielding Kingswood from further discovery obligations unless new circumstances arise.
If the case stays on schedule, the jury selection process in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina could begin as early as August 8, 2025.
3. DOE Honors Black History Month
Under recent executive actions by President Donald Trump, at least one federal agency, the Department of Defense, has announced an end to formally recognizing cultural awareness months during working hours, according to the Associated Press. This move effectively eliminates official observances of events such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and National Disability Employment Awareness Month across the agency.
In contrast to the new DoD policy shift, President Trump hosted a Black History Month ceremony at the White House this week, featuring golfer Tiger Woods. Furthermore, the Department of Energy (DOE), which has been making recent headlines in the lighting industry, released its own statement honoring Black History Month. Such acknowledgments have been consistent with the DOE’s practices during both Trump’s previous administration and under President Joe Biden. Notably, inventor Lewis Latimer’s contributions to electric lighting were highlighted under Biden in 2023 and again this week by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
In his official statement, Wright emphasized the historic contributions of Black Americans to the nation’s energy sector, citing pioneers like Latimer, Dr. George Washington Carver, and Manhattan Project scientists Dr. William Knox and Dr. Blanche Lawrence.
4. I-Team Investigation: LEDucation lunch
If you’ve attended LEDucation in recent years, you know the lunchtime struggle all too well. Picture this: It’s 12:30 PM on Tuesday, and you’re trying to cross the Grand Ballroom to meet a colleague. But instead of a smooth stroll, you’re weaving through a logjam of lighting people, crowded food stations, and beverage tables, all seemingly placed to test your patience (and maybe your step count).
The New York Hilton Midtown trade show venue — hosted in multiple hotel ballrooms — comes with some strings attached: guaranteed guest room bookings and a healthy spend with the hotel’s food and beverage department. Enter the classic “free” lunch, a longstanding LEDucation perk ever since the show settled into the New York Hilton.
But with the event growing bigger, organizers are making a pivot this year: lunch is moving away from the exhibit areas. Attendees will have two convenient options for a quick bite:
- The new DLF Café, set up in the Murray Hill Ballroom on the less-traveled second floor, will offer boxed lunches and beverages — an efficient refueling stop before diving back into the trade show floor or catching that next can’t-miss seminar.
- Additionally, a second café will be available on the third floor East Promenade in the Mercury Ballroom, accessible through the Rotunda, providing another convenient spot for attendees to grab lunch while avoiding the congestion of the exhibit areas.
5. IES Opens Public Review for New ANSI Lighting Standards
The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) has announced that two draft standards are open for public review under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) from January 31 to March 17, 2025. The drafts include BSR/IES LP-6-2x: Lighting Practice: Lighting Control Systems – Properties, Selection, and Specification, which offers guidance for selecting and specifying lighting control systems, and BSR/IES LP-9-2x: Lighting Practice: Upgrading Lighting Systems in Commercial and Industrial Facilities, which outlines methods for successful lighting upgrades.
Additionally, a new project, BSR/IES 42-2x: Recommended Practice: Dimming and Control Method Designations, will be open for comment from February 14 to March 16, 2025. This standard aims to establish non-proprietary dimming and control designations for luminaires and controllers.
