Pubdate: Mon, 06 Jun 2016
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2016 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Steve Sinovic

LIGHTING COMPANY SEES BRIGHT FUTURE

LED Developers Seeking to Become Go-to Source for Cannabis Industry

On New Mexico's economic Richter scale, Lifted LED, with a workforce 
of just five, barely registers.

But just wait, say those energetic employees, which includes brothers 
and business partners Jaxon and Geoff Patterson.

"It's all comes down to the right light," Jaxon Patterson said of 
Lifted LED's future potential, especially on the cannabis growing front.

They have ambitious plans for their lighting company, inspired by an 
increasing emphasis on energy conservation that's expected to be a 
major factor in determining which companies survive in the 
fast-evolving cannabis industry.

With many states legalizing medical marijuana, entrepreneurs such as 
Lifted LED are looking to be vendors of choice. With new greenhouses 
and growing spaces come purchases for new grow lights, a pivotal tool 
for a healthy cannabis crop.

LEDs, which stands for light-emitting diodes, are most commonly 
associated with colored Christmas lights and control panels. They are 
an evolving lighting technology considered more energy efficient and 
friendlier to the environment than the more familiar bulb of the 
green movement, the spiral compact fluorescent.

At a recent energy summit in Portland, Ore, a few weeks ago, Jaxon 
learned that cannabis production will eventually consume 1 percent of 
the energy footprint in North America. Indoor cannabis growers often 
use high-pressure sodium lamps like street lights that are on almost 
24 hours a day and resulting high temperatures mean greenhouses 
require more cooling. Taken together, that can mean costly electric bills.

Lifted LED claims to be able to cut the energy load by almost half 
for customers switching to its grow lights.

"The premise of our design was to make a more efficient grow light, 
lower the energy footprint of these grow spaces and give the master 
growers the ability to control the spectrum over Wi-Fi with a 
smartphone app," said Jaxon.

As the Rio Rancho business scales up, it helps that it is located in 
the same facility, at 4341 Fulcrum Way NW, as its parent company: 
Insight Lighting.

"We've been around lighting our whole lives," said Jaxon Patterson.

Looking to jump in and fill a niche that can play a part in cannabis 
growth and sales was sort of a natural progression. "There's a lot of 
goodwill behind our name," he said of the company's standing in the 
commercial lighting industry. The team includes their father, David 
Patterson, Chris Kreuter and materials scientist Dr. Muji Mujahid.

"The company name, Lifted, is about providing a boost," Jaxon said.

The business launched in early February after months of development 
and testing with a grower in Portland, Ore.

With a modest $50,000 in revenue so far, the company principals are 
confident the product will catch on with other buyers - especially 
after prospects see the results of other companies' full growing cycles.

First-time growers are a logical market for Lifted LED because they 
don't have to retrofit existing operations. The right light can make 
a crop mature days faster and that means more money for growers who 
can get that investment sold faster, said Jaxon.

While Jaxon sees a bright future with a focus on the cannabis 
growers' market because it looks like the fastest path to 
profitability, he said the company's LED lights can also be tailored 
for other agricultural growers, such as nurseries.

The company has retained a contract manufacturer in China to build 
the units. "There are a lot of nights on Skype with my vendor," said 
Jaxon Patterson.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom