June 5, 2025
JAW Lighting Shakeup Redraws Cooper's Rep Map
Cooper turns to neighboring reps to stabilize whirlwind shifts in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee
In seven months, JAW Lighting went from an ambitious, multi-market Cooper Lighting Solutions rep startup to an agency at the center of a regional shakeup. Now, effective today, Cooper is transitioning away from JAW and shifting key territories to other established agents — a move that signals not collapse, but recalibration. As JAW Lighting's role fades, a whirlwind of changes is sweeping through Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Jim Williams, the sole owner of JAW and longtime industry heavyweight, has announced his retirement. Again. In a June 4 statement, Williams cited “recent health considerations” that gave him new perspective. “JAW Lighting was in its early stages as an agency,” he said, “but it built a solid foundation primed for continued success and growth.” It’s a statement that offers optimism, but one that leaves the industry parsing what’s next.
In a text message to Inside Lighting on Wednesday evening, Williams described the moment as “an opportunity for me to sell the agency and enjoy life,” adding that “JAW was acquired.” Atlanta-based Ardd + Winter confirmed to Inside Lighting that they have acquired JAW’s Tennessee operations, assumed the lease for its office spaces and plan to retain much of the existing staff. Similar transitions involving offices and personnel in Ohio and Kentucky are believed to be underway.
For Cooper, what’s next is a major agent reset — marking yet another chapter in a region known for its recent volatility. With so much turnover, the stakes are high for the new agencies to bring calm, consistency and long-term stability to these disrupted markets.
Mapping the Transitions
JAW Lighting’s exit has opened the door for three neighboring Cooper Lighting agencies to expand into new territory:
- Lighting & Controls, Cooper’s rep in Cleveland and Akron, will now cover Columbus and Cincinnati.
- Ardd + Winter, best known for its strength in Atlanta, takes on Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. They also have a presence in South Carolina and Northern Florida.
- Lighting Associates, with roots in St. Louis and Southern Illinois, expands further east into Kentucky. The agency also covers Central Illinois.
In Kentucky, Lighting Associates is already signaling a desire for continuity. “For sure, we plan to embrace JAW Lighting staff and welcome them to the Lighting Associates family,” said Principal Joe Thomason in an email to Inside Lighting. “We certainly will be reaching out to those independent manufacturers that have partnered with JAW Lighting in Kentucky to continue those relationships.”
With these new assignments effective immediately, the agents, customers and channel partners will be adjusting in real time.
Agent turnover is disruptive. In Cincinnati alone, Cooper is now on its sixth representative in just 16 years — a pace that makes it difficult for customers to build long-term relationships. The good news for those customers? Some JAW Lighting personnel are expected to stay in the market, potentially softening the disruption, although no staffing changes have been confirmed.
A Plan With Scale, But Not Staying Power
When JAW Lighting opened in late 2024, it looked like a bold new chapter for both Cooper Lighting and Jim Williams. The plan was expansive: launch an agency from scratch, consolidate five traditional territories, and build a leaner, modern model across Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. Williams’ experience — having turned KSA Lighting + Controls into a Chicago powerhouse — lent credibility to the approach.
And JAW didn’t just move in quietly. The agency was planning to raffle off two Ford F-150s to its customers in October as part of a 2025 loyalty contest. The pace was aggressive, and the territory wide.
For a manufacturer, handing the keys to five markets to a single agency leaves little room for wrong turns — when the road gets rough, you’re either "all in" or off the map. Cooper’s strategy to go "all in" on a multi-state partner was clear. But when the trajectory changed, the reverberations spanned multiple states and hundreds of customers.
FLASHBACK to Sep & Oct 2024: Cooper Lighting moved away from four agents in three states to partner with startup agency JAW Lighting.
— Inside Lighting (@InsLighting) June 5, 2025
Today, those same territories are undergoing a transition away from JAW Lighting. More info on Inside Lighting.https://t.co/FzhthQsovj
To Cooper’s credit, the company moved quickly to reassign territory to stable neighboring partners. While the speed of the realignment reflects the urgency of the situation, the new agent appointments may turn out to be solid long-term solutions. Ardd + Winter and Lighting Associates have both proven their ability to scale into adjacent regions successfully, and Lighting & Controls brings decades of experience and a longstanding Cooper partnership dating back to 1993 when the agency started under the banner of Jereb & Malovasic.
A Turning Point for Lighting & Controls?
Among the most notable developments is the new role of Lighting & Controls. Until recently, the agency had reason to feel pressure. After all, JAW Lighting had stepped into nearby territories and was quietly assembling an independent line card in Cleveland — prompting speculation that a JAW move for Cooper in Cleveland was part of Williams' master plan.
Meanwhile, Lighting & Controls lost two of its major independent control lines — Lutron and Wattstopper — to Lighting Dynamics, the Current rep covering much of Ohio. Those weren't minor losses.
Now, in what feels like a reversal of momentum, Lighting & Controls is on the rise. With Cooper entrusting them with both Columbus and Cincinnati, the agency’s footprint will now include nearly all of Ohio, save for the Toledo metro. For principals Greg Zawadzki and Andy Ports, this could be a pivotal moment to expand their influence and emerge stronger than ever in the state they’ve long served.
What’s Next for Cooper … and for Williams?
The industry has seen Jim Williams retire before. He stepped away from KSA Lighting + Controls in 2023, only to re-enter the arena with JAW a year later. Whether this latest retirement is final remains to be seen. For now, Williams appears ready to shift focus — perhaps toward the golf course, perhaps toward something else entirely.
While some may speculate that Williams will join his wife Ashley at The Lighting Digest, the Cooper rep in Chicago, that’s seen as unlikely due to an active non-compete agreement with his former agency, KSA Lighting + Controls.
For Cooper Lighting, the priority now is stability. After a period of rapid change — both in agent partnerships and customer handoffs — the new agency lineup needs to stick. The company’s rapid realignment might have been born of necessity, but the agents now in place have the capability to make the most of it.
And for unaffected lighting brands in the region — Acuity Brands and Current among them — the moment offers a chance to reinforce their own steady presence. While Cooper resets, competitors with consistent representation may find themselves in stronger positions with customers seeking certainty.
After a whirlwind seven months, JAW Lighting’s role has hit the off-ramp, with new agents navigating the next leg of Cooper’s journey in the region. The plan was bold, the pace was fast — and the realignment now underway may prove just as consequential as the launch that came before it.
No word on the Ford F-150 raffle, but the steering wheel has officially changed hands.
