One of the nation's leaders in energy-efficiency development got its start here in Metro Detroit developing products for the U.S. Military.
Three people started Relume Technologies in 1994 developing LED lights for the military because, as Bob Hahn, a general manager with Relume, puts it, "anything you drop out of a plane at 30,000 feet, light bulbs don't like that."
Oh, and LED lights are more energy efficient and longer lasting.
The company, now 55 people strong, has since expanded its reach to include LED streetlights and lighting for commercial buildings. Among Relume's local customers are downtown Ann Arbor, Battle Creek and Benton Harbor, which have switched to the company's LED streetlights in an attempt to cut energy costs.
With the growing interest in high-efficiency energy products, Relume is now bidding on 20 different streetlight replacement projects across the state and more than 1,000 in North America. It is also working to replace the old incandescent bulbs in commercial buildings with LEDs.
The company has turned this growth into dozens of jobs in Michigan, where its operations are based. Last year the firm doubled its employee base and Hahn thinks "we will continue with this trend."
LED (short for light-emitting diode) lights are commonly used in traffic and tail lights. They require less than half of the energy of a normal incandescent light bulb and last eight years longer than the normal two-year lifespan of an incandescent.
Source: Bob Hahn, a general manager with Relume Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke
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