An American Company Celebrates Labor Day with Revival of Porcelain Enamel Manufacturing

Titusville, Fla. (November 29th, 2013) — Like many small businesses, Barn Light Electric began as a weekend hobby for owners Bryan and Donna Scott of Titusville, Florida. Having grown up in the shadow of the Kennedy Space Center in a time when American ingenuity meant everything to this small community, the couple learned early on what hard work and imagination can do.

Married with three children and full-time professional careers, the pair shared a passion for vintage American lighting. They spent weekends and time off browsing antique stores, attending estate sales, and even poking into abandoned buildings looking for old lights. They would restore and rewire these vintage treasures and post them to a simple web page. It wasn’t long before they realized others shared their love for barn style lighting and their weekend hobby blossomed into a business. In early 2008, the couple left their professional careers and Barn Light Electric was born.

The business grew quickly and new employees came on board. They came from blue collar jobs, college programs, and the nearby Kennedy Space Center. Johnny spent almost 30 years as a coal miner before becoming the supervisor of manufacturing. Jeanine lost her job when the economy faltered, and she began rescuing Great Danes before starting work in the accounting department. When the space shuttle program ended, Rosemarie came to Barn Light Electric to work in human resources.

As the Scotts honed their business skills, the couple dreamed of revitalizing the craft of American-made, hand-spun porcelain shades. But they found that this particular manufacturing process had died away 50 years ago to make way for less expensive techniques. With a strong desire to bring back this quality form of lighting to America, the pair began to plan for its revival.

Today, Barn Light Electric is the only company in America manufacturing porcelain enamel lighting. The shades begin as a flat disc of commercial-grade steel hand spun by metal artisans into the classic barn light shape. The shades are then coated with multiple layers of porcelain enamel glass and baked in a 1,600-degree porcelain oven to produce a high-gloss finish that never fades and is fit for a lifetime of use.

In one of the worst economies in our country’s history, the Scotts built a successful business with customers from Hollywood to Hong Kong. They offer a wide range of products from classic gooseneck barn lights to fixtures featuring the latest in LED technology from Cree, Inc., a pioneer in the development of LED lighting.

Barn Light Electric embodies the true American spirit of pursuing a dream. The Scotts are proud to have revived a lost American art form and to create this timeless, high-quality lighting right here in the USA.