February 27, 2025
SESCO Lighting Acquires ELS: But What’s Next?
SESCO steps into Kentucky, though Signify is currently absent from the mix
SESCO Lighting, a Florida-based powerhouse in the lighting agency world, has made another territory expansion, this time moving into Kentucky with the acquisition of Engineered Lighting Sales (ELS). The deal, effective April 1, 2025, marks SESCO’s latest strategic expansion, continuing its steady northward push into new territories.
The agency will operate as SESCO in Kentucky, retiring the ELS name. All 12 ELS employees, including Ernie Cruse and Fred Ernstberger, are set to join the new SESCO operation.
For ELS, this transition isn’t just a change, it’s a moment of reinvention. The agency, a long-time Cooper Lighting representative, was left without a major brand partner when Cooper abruptly parted ways with them and three other agents in late 2024. That split came as Cooper repositioned itself in various territories in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio by teaming up with Jim Williams who launched a new multi-state lighting agency. Since December 1, ELS had been operating independently, leading to speculation about which major manufacturer, if any, would fill the conspicuous Cooper void on their line card.
SESCO’s Chessboard: Expanding Across the Southeast
This acquisition is just the latest move in SESCO’s ongoing expansion campaign. Over many years, the agency has systematically moved beyond its Florida stronghold, pushing west into Mississippi and north into Tennessee, Arkansas and the Carolinas before setting its sights on Kentucky. With over 460 employees across 10 states, plus Puerto Rico, SESCO’s footprint is far-reaching.
However, this latest deal comes with a notable omission: there’s no immediate indication that Signify’s Genlyte Solutions — SESCO’s longtime partner across its other Southeastern territories — will follow them into Kentucky. Currently, Genlyte is represented in Kentucky by LightSpec, an upstate New York-based rep that expanded into the state in 2023. LightSpec took over in December 2023, replacing Indiana-based Professional Lighting Services, which claimed it was only serving as an interim solution while Signify sought a permanent representative.
Will SESCO Kentucky Really Compete Without a Major?
The Kentucky market presents a unique challenge. Unlike some other higher-volume territories, Kentucky has below-average buying power and a vast geographical spread, stretching from the commercial hubs of Louisville and Lexington to smaller markets like Paducah and Bowling Green. Without a major lighting brand — Acuity Brands, Cooper, Genlyte, or Current — it may be difficult for any lighting rep to gain significant traction and top-three market share.
ELS’s current line card includes important brands like Wattstopper, Williams and Lumenpulse — strong names, but whether they’ll be enough to compete aggressively on both project and stock business across Kentucky remains to be seen. And with SESCO’s deep-seated relationship with Color Kinetics across the Southeast, Lumenpulse’s future on a SESCO line card looks anything but certain. In the end, there’s no assurance that every ELS brand will make the leap.
Down the Stretch They Come
Meanwhile, Acuity’s long-established rep, LHI Lighting Sales, remains the clear market leader in Kentucky, boasting 23 employees and a deep-rooted presence. Cooper, following its recent agency shake-ups, is now firmly positioned with Jim Williams’ new group, JAW Lighting. Current maintains its longstanding relationship with Lumenation in Louisville and now seems unlikely to partner with Signify-embedded SESCO. That leaves Genlyte as the biggest unanswered question, mainly due to Kentucky now being a SESCO/Genlyte outlier.
Three outcomes seem to be on the table: Signify hands Genlyte to SESCO, LightSpec and SESCO somehow join forces in Kentucky, or SESCO fights without an anchor brand. None are easy, and each reshapes the commonwealth's competitive map as lighting reps jockey for position — this is Kentucky, after all, where even the lighting business is a horse race.
