Just one year after developing and hosting the largest solar array in Oregon, the team at Portland Habilitation Center Northwest (PHCNW) is diving head first into its next social venture. PHCNW is providing over 100 LED lights that will be used at the 2010 Olympic Village in Vancouver, Canada.
“The beauty of this project is that we are doing business with a venue where millions of people internationally will see our work,” said Massoud Mollaghaffari, the general manager for the industrial division at PHCNW. “This is the first time any venue in the Olympic structure is using high-efficiency LED lights that are designed by our partner LightPower and manufactured by us, which makes this pretty significant.”
PHCNW’s primary responsibility in this partnership is to manufacture high-quality products in a timely manner. LightPower’s role is to refine existing designs, develop new products and applications and assist PHCNW in sourcing the components. Each company will market the product line.
“LEDs are innovative because they consume less energy, last longer and are smaller,” said John Murphy, President and CEO for PHCNW. “They are rapidly improving, and we felt that the technology was at a point where it’s beginning to take hold in a commercial way.”
Mollaghaffari said PHCNW recently added a complete new reflow station, an LED assembly line that will eventually occupy several more full-time employees as volume increases. He said the industrial department is in the process of assembling 14 different products such as: recessed lighting, street lights, cabinet lightening, etc.
“It’s a great partnership opportunity as long as both organizations hold true to their roles,” Murphy said. “Fortunately, each of us understands our role and works independently. Our partner brings in capital the conventional way and we use our reserves to pursue our mission of creating jobs. We feel confident about the technology, our partnership with LightPower and look forward to what’s in store.”
