5 Things to Know:  September 12

KSA Lighting & Controls brought its signature House of Blues showcase back to Chicago this week under the banner "The Legend Continues," and the tagline earned its keep.

Exhibitors filled four floors, and even those on the third and fourth floor balconies reported good traffic, the kind of quality lighting decision-makers that justify the trip to downtown Chicago. The event has become something of an institution for the Chicago lighting community, and this year's edition did little to break from a formula that has worked for years: manufacturers on display, KSA people working the room, and a live band closing out the night.

Above (L to R): Inside Lighting's Al Uszynski with KSA principals Keith Wittenbrink and Jim Maucieri.

KSA principals Jim Maucieri and Keith Wittenbrink were on hand throughout the evening, continuing the hands-on presence that has become a hallmark of the event. Agency spec leader Joe Lloyd was working the floor throughout the day and night, part of the KSA team effort that keeps guests feeling looked after rather than left to wander the multi-floor venue on their own.

Above: "We've gotta hold on to what we've got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not"

The evening's entertainment came courtesy of 3G Lighting, whose in-house band flew in both lighting and music gear from company headquarters, a nice bit of symmetry for a showcase built around the idea that good product demos and a good show aren't mutually exclusive. As in past years, the trade show atmosphere of the afternoon gave way to a livelier evening scene, with attendees sticking around well past the last manufacturer pitch.

For lighting people, the House of Blues event captures something the industry doesn't always get right: a format that lets specifiers, developers, distributors and other lighting people go as deep as they want on product specs during the day, then choose their own adventure once the lights come up on stage. Whether that means one more conversation with a manufacturer rep or a spot near the dance floor, the choice is entirely the attendee's.

As reported by Global News, Ontario Premier Doug Ford used a recent press conference to warn architects and engineers against specifying American-made building products, singling out an example of a school project where designers had spec'd U.S. brick priced at roughly $8 per unit despite Ontario suppliers offering equivalent products for about $2.

Ford's comments follow a memo his government sent to builders reinforcing "Buy Ontario first, Canada second" procurement legislation already on the books. He said suppliers are now flagging violators directly to his office, and he pledged to pursue firms and agencies that continue sourcing from U.S. vendors. "There's nothing we can't make here in Ontario or across the country," Ford said, framing the policy as a matter of economic self-defense amid strained U.S.-Canada trade relations.

For lighting manufacturers, distributors, and specifiers doing business in Canada, the remarks add pressure to an already tightening procurement environment, particularly for anyone supplying fixtures, controls, or components into publicly funded construction projects where compliance scrutiny appears to be intensifying.

According to Aladdin, China's LED lighting industry posted ¥609.3 billion ($85.8B) in output in 2025, a slight 1.1% dip that the trade publication frames as a deliberate retreat from volume competition rather than a slowdown. The market is consolidating: companies above a government-set revenue threshold now number over 3,600, up 28% from the end of the last five-year plan, with combined revenue topping ¥380 billion ($53.5B).

Yet concentration remains thin. Market leader MLS holds just 2.66% share, trailed by Foshan Lighting, Opple, and Debang Lighting, none above 1.3%. Guangdong's Pearl River Delta remains the manufacturing core, while the Yangtze River Delta region hosts Opple's headquarters operations alongside Sunshine Lighting and Sunny Lighting. Aladdin's forecast calls for the market to reach ¥988.6 billion ($139.2B) by 2031, an 8.4% annual growth rate driven by smart, health, and automotive lighting segments.

The more interesting shift may be strategic: manufacturers including Sunshine Lighting and Ocean King are pushing into semiconductors and drones, while Unilux and Leyard are betting on AI-integrated displays and robotics, signaling that some Chinese lighting companies see their future well beyond the light fixture.

According to Alabama's WSFA, Illuminate Montgomery, a program originally launched to add lighting and art installations to downtown murals, has expanded into local classrooms. Booker T. Washington Magnet High School students recently completed a two-day workshop introducing them to technical theater, including instruction on hanging and focusing stage lights.

The lesson landed with unexpected relevance for at least one student. Layla Johnson-Nichols, a junior, said her actual career interest lies in clothing design, not lighting, but the workshop's lessons on how different lights alter the appearance of color on stage struck her as directly useful. Knowing what colors a lighting designer plans to use, she said, would help her make sure costume pieces read correctly once they hit the set.

The Illuminate Montgomery installations tied to the broader initiative will run along Lee Street and South Court Street in downtown Montgomery, so the next time you're stumbling out of 23 Court Cigar Bar a little later than planned, at least the sidewalk will be well lit. For lighting people, the workshop is a small but telling example of how public art and infrastructure investment can double as a pipeline into technical trades that don't always get classroom attention.

Few public-company CEOs in the lighting industry have guided their organizations as successfully as James Clark has steered LSI Industries in recent years.

Fresh off a record fiscal year of revenues, LSI Industries has taken compensation actions to make clear who it wants steering the company through the back half of the decade.

CEO James Clark, with LSI since 2018, received a new long-term incentive package targeted at $2.5 million, split between 41,563 restricted stock units and 62,344 performance stock units tied to three-year cumulative Adjusted EBITDA and return on net assets. He also picked up a separate $3 million retention grant of restricted stock that cliff-vests in three years. That award comes with a catch worth noting: a third of it can vest a year early if the board signs off on a five-year strategic plan Clark is expected to bring forward. His base salary rises to $900,000 effective September 1.

CFO James Galeese's short-term incentive plan sets his cash bonus target at 80% of base salary, weighted mostly toward Adjusted EBITDA with a smaller Net Sales component. The award lands against the backdrop of Galeese's planned retirement in August 2027, with LSI's succession plan already underway. General counsel and HR chief Thomas Caneris rounds out the named executives, with a bonus target of 60% of salary.

The mechanics are standard performance-based comp. The five-year strategic plan clause is not. It signals a board eager to see Clark's roadmap sooner rather than later, and willing to pay for it.