April 18, 2025
Lightspec Expands Territory With Gormley Acquisition
Deal will fill Lightspec’s territory gap in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia
For years, lighting agents in Pittsburgh and West Virginia followed a familiar pattern, with legacy agencies holding steady ties to major manufacturers. But in recent years, the market has seen more movement than usual, and the ground just shifted again.
Lightspec, the upstate New York-based lighting rep known for its calculated territorial expansion in recent years, has announced its acquisition of Gormley Farrington, a Pittsburgh based agent representing brands like Lutron and Signify’s Genlyte Solutions in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The deal, expected to close within 60 days, isn’t just a change in signage — it’s a chess move that completes a years-long puzzle for Lightspec and its anchor partner, Genlyte Solutions.
Under CEO Steve Danzig, Lightspec has evolved from a local player in Upstate New York into a quietly expansive force. In the past five years, it has moved into Ohio and Kentucky, merging with agencies like Bright Focus Sales, Lighting Unlimited and BR Lighting & Controls. The acquisition of Gormley Farrington now fills a large, conspicuous gap in its territory map. And critically, it strengthens the alignment with Genlyte Solutions, which is already partnered with Lightspec across its existing footprint. That partnership is widely expected to continue — and even deepen — as the Gormley territory comes under Lightspec’s control.
Why This Territory Mattered
At the start of 2024, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia sat like outliers on Lightspec’s expanding map — a large and conspicuous blank space in an otherwise tidy arc that stretched from Schenectady to Akron to Paducah. The agency had made major moves across the Northeast and Midwest, but this one corridor remained untouched.
Above: Approximate depiction of Lightspec's existing territory (green) and Gormley Farrington's territory (dark blue).
For an agency built on cohesion, Pittsburgh stood out for Lightspec — like a Primanti Brothers’ Reuben sandwich served without fries tucked inside. Not wrong, exactly. Just incomplete.
Then came a moment of reshuffling. REPCO II, after decades with Genlyte Solutions, stepped away from the line, and Gormley Farrington stepped in. Immediately, speculation swirled — not just about who would take the Genlyte line, but what the move signaled long term. Inside Lighting even published a mock DraftKings-style odds board: Gormley Farrington was the frontrunner at 3:1. Lightspec, a well-positioned dark horse, came in at 4:1. But the most intriguing long shot? A 14:1 wager that Lightspec and Gormley Farrington might somehow merge or combine to represent Genlyte together.
In hindsight, the Gormley pick was the right call — and that 14:1 long shot? It just came true.
This acquisition felt inevitable. Lightspec had the momentum. Gormley had the territory. And Genlyte, which already partners with Lightspec across its broader footprint, gains a unified, experienced agent that can deliver consistency across multiple states. While the formal reappointment in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia hasn’t been publicly inked, all signs point in the same direction: Genlyte Solutions is staying put — deepening, not disrupting, its relationship with the newly expanded Lightspec operation.
The Lutron Variable
The more intriguing question may be Lutron.
While Genlyte Solutions has steadily allowed key agents like Lightspec and SESCO to grow their footprints into adjacent territories, Lutron tends to move more cautiously. The brand rejoined Gormley Farrington just three years ago, after a brief stint with now-departed One Source Paolicelli. And in that time, Lutron’s presence in the region has stabilized — though not without complexity.
If Lutron chooses to follow Gormley into the Lightspec fold, it would mark the first such partnership between Lutron and Lightspec.
Steve Danzig has said Lightspec’s plan is to retain the full Gormley team, including principal Pat Gormley in Pittsburgh and Dan Rowsey, who oversees West Virginia. That continuity could make it easier for Lutron to say yes. But so far, there’s no public commitment.
Lutron, for its part, is known for taking a deliberate approach. The company rarely makes abrupt moves, preferring instead to evaluate the landscape carefully, interview multiple candidates, and assess long-term fit before making a commitment. It's a measured process — one that often plays out over their timeline, not others’.
A Friendly Collision in Kentucky
There’s another subplot quietly developing a few hundred miles southwest. In February, Florida-based lighting agency SESCO Lighting acquired Engineered Lighting Sales, stepping into the Kentucky market for the first time. That would be notable on its own — except Lightspec already represents Genlyte Solutions in Kentucky, having taken over from Professional Lighting Services in 2023.
So now, two of Genlyte Solutions’ most important agency partners — Lightspec and SESCO — overlap in a state that’s relatively low in market volume, but now high in strategic tension.
Importantly, Lightspec and SESCO are not competitors in the traditional sense. They operate in separate geographies, each with strong brand alignment and close manufacturer relationships. But Kentucky introduces an awkward footnote: one overlapping territory, two agents, and only one Genlyte Solutions.
It seems unlikely both will stay long term.
SESCO brings deep scale and longstanding ties to Color Kinetics and other Signify lines. Lightspec, on the other hand, was appointed in Kentucky to stabilize a disrupted region. Both have legitimate claims — but neither can likely challenge market leader LHI’s dominance without manufacturer support.
The Bigger Pattern
This isn’t a one-off. Signify’s Genlyte Solutions business has increasingly favored territory continuity over rigid lines. Rather than appointing a new agent for every shift, it has allowed high-performing reps to grow — if they can prove local commitment.
ALR expanded from San Francisco to Oregon. LINX Lighting & Controls took over San Diego via merger. Chicago Lightworks just launched Indiana Lightworks. And SESCO now spans more than 15 traditional lighting territories in the Southeast. The strategy is deliberate: fewer partners, broader territories, and tighter alignment.
Lightspec fits that mold. Its acquisition of Gormley Farrington doesn’t just plug a geographic hole — it reinforces the kind of expanded regional footprint that Genlyte Solutions appears to support.
That approach has implications beyond the immediate deal. It suggests a future where territorial sprawl is not a liability but a design feature — where agents are rewarded for building scale, and consolidation becomes not just permissible but strategic.
What to Watch
In the coming weeks, all eyes will be on the finalization of manufacturer commitments. Genlyte Solutions is all but certain to continue with the newly expanded Lightspec. Lutron’s path is less defined but no less consequential.
Then there’s Kentucky. As Signify watches its two partners navigate a shared territory, another decision may loom — one that could set the tone for how overlapping agents are handled across the country.
But for now, the Gormley acquisition marks a calculated step — one that had been floated, occasionally speculated, and has now quietly come to fruition.
