LED Source Debuts In Wichita

By: LED Source | 1,021 Shares 114 Reads

LED Lighting Franchise Opens Second Location in Kansas

(Wichita, Kan.)---LED Source®, a company that supplies LED lighting products and specializes in full-scale evaluations and retrofits in both commercial and residential properties, announces the opening of its second Kansas location at 7330 W. 33rd St. N in Wichita. The company first debuted in the state in March with an office in Lawrence. Wichita resident Travis Hettenbach will head up the location and will service all of Sedgwick County, including Wichita, Derby, Maize, Goddard, Valley Center, Park City and more.

Born and raised in Wichita and a graduate of Friends University, Hettenbach spent the past 14 years working for a large management company in the IT field. In January, he was let go from the company and instead of peddling his resume, looking for another job in corporate America, Hettenbach began researching various business opportunities.

"Although I first started looking at franchises that were in line with my IT background, I quickly realized they weren't the right fit," says Hettenbach. "Seeing this as an opportunity to reinvent myself, I wanted to find a business in a growing field that would challenge and excite me. For several years now, I have been keeping an eye on the LED industry as a consumer, but when I came across LED Source, I knew it was the perfect business for me."

Founded in 2005, LED Source is North America's first and only franchisor of LED lighting. The company supplies LED products to commercial office spaces, schools, churches, theaters, art galleries, restaurants and nightclubs, special events, residential and landscape lighting and much more. The company recognized a fast-growing marketplace for LED lighting with boundless potential and as a result has opened franchise locations in Eastern Canada, Dallas, Lawrence, Kan., Bloomington, Ind., Los Angeles, and Des Moines, Iowa. The company is also developing in Western Canada, New York, San Francisco, Illinois, Hawaii and Colorado and expects to sign 30 franchise agreements this year, with at least 20 locations in operation.

LED (light-emitting diode) lighting is the most energy-efficient lighting solution currently available. Although the LED lighting market is still in its infancy, 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.

Additionally, according to the U.S. Dept, of Energy, rapid adoption of LED lighting in the United States over the next 20 years would reduce electricity demands from lighting by one- third, eliminate 258 million metric tons of carbon emissions, eliminate the construction of 40 power plants and create financial savings that could exceed $200 billion.

While LED lighting can cost more than incandescent and fluorescent lights – requiring a higher initial investment – businesses will often see the payback in just a year or two. The availability of federal tax incentives and local utility rebates for qualifying LED retrofit projects that can cover anywhere between 30 to 100 percent of the cost of LED lighting provides an even stronger incentive.
Hettenbach expects the community to respond positively to his new business venture, but understands how important it is for local business owners to gain the trust of area residents.

"I grew up working in my mom's local costume and novelty shop, Kay's This N' That," says Hettenbach. "The store has been in our family for 40 years and I learned at a very young age the skills needed to run a successful small business. I always knew I'd follow in my mom's footsteps."

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