(Montréal, Québec)—Jamie Shapiro has been consumed with the electrical world his whole life. While his grandfather founded an electric company in 1946 his father was a salesman for many years in the industry as well. So, when Shapiro graduated from college, he knew exactly how he wanted to spend his professional life. With his dad there to teach him the ins and outs of the business, Shapiro became a commercial lighting salesman for one of the largest independently owned electrical distributors in Canada. This month, however, he and his long-time friend and business associate, Mark Etcovitch, will embark on a new lighting venture—they will open LED Source, North America’s first and only franchisor of LED lighting, servicing eastern Canada.
“This is a huge opportunity for Mark and I; we are not only excited to work as a team, but we strongly believe in the future of LED lighting through LED Source,” said Shapiro. “We will be delivering our customers with fully integrated LED systems and setting ourselves apart from the many sales channels existent today that are incapable of delivering high-performance products.”
As the first LED Source franchisee in the Canadian market, Etcovitch has chosen Shapiro to serve as vice president and director of sales while he will serve as president and manage the administrative side of the business. Etcovitch will also remain owner of his current company, Rite Lites. Etcovitch and Shapiro plan to gain LED Source exposure in Montréal and throughout Eastern Canada with a second location slated to open in Ontario within the next year.
“LED Source will allow us to have vertical control on the specification and delivery process of LED lighting, which will result in a highly-satisfied end user,” said Etcovitch. “Throughout my experiences in the industry, I have never before seen a technology so well embraced by consumers. Jamie and I have high expectations for the LED Source model in the Canadian market.”
Founded in 2005, LED Source is a national and international supplier of LED lighting that specializes in full-scale evaluations and retrofits through its Retrofit Division in addition to providing consultation all the way through to supply on new projects within their Architectural and Entertainment Divisions. LED lighting is the most energy-efficient lighting solution currently available that is both fiscally smart and ecologically sound when compared to both incandescent and compact fluorescent lighting (CFL).
Market tracker Strategies Unlimited predicts global sales of general-purpose LEDs will triple to $14.9 billion in 2013 from $5.1 billion in 2008, a compound annual growth rate of 24 percent. The implementation of LED lighting is beneficial to both residential and commercial properties alike. A report by Pike Research released in July said, “If all the commercial buildings in the U.S. that exist as of 2010 were retrofitted to be more energy efficient, the country as a whole would save over $41.1 billion a year in energy bills.” Other motivations include the federal tax incentives and local utility rebates—which can cover anywhere between 30 percent and 100 percent of the cost of LED lighting.
LED Source applications include commercial office space, schools, churches, theaters, art galleries, restaurants and nightclubs, special events, residential and landscape lighting and much more, including the world’s largest cruise ship and the stadium that played host to Super Bowl XLIII.
