Barn Light Electric Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

TITUSVILLE, Fla. (February 28, 2013) — Looking back on the year 2008, so many signs marked the beginning of the US economy’s long slide into one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression. Gas averaged $3.39 a gallon, property values were plummeting, and a harbinger of the impending mortgage crisis came as Bank of America took over troubled Countrywide Financial.

Not the best environment to start a business.

But for Bryan and Donna Scott, Florida natives and entrepreneurs, quitting their professional careers to launch Barn Light Electric full time in 2008 made perfect sense. They had been buying and refurbishing antique lights for several years in their backyard barn, and the orders were coming in faster than they could manage. The design trend for vintage and well-made American lighting was gathering steam.

“We wanted to create our own American-made barn lighting just like the vintage ones we restored,” Bryan Scott says. “And it had to be manufactured the old-fashioned way with only high-quality, commercial-grade materials that represented the original barn lighting styles.”

Barn Light Electric is celebrating its fifth anniversary this week as the Scotts have weathered the economic storm and created a thriving business with customers from Hong Kong to Hollywood. They have grown from a small retail space in historic downtown Titusville, Florida, to two manufacturing buildings and a retail showroom and office space just across the Indian River from the Kennedy Space Center.

Last year saw the launch of Barn Light Electric’s porcelain enamel manufacturing operation – the only one of its kind in this country. These unique lighting fixtures are treasured not only for their hand-spun process and long-lasting porcelain finish, but for being a true American-made innovation. And though 2013 is barely underway, the company recently launched a new collection of high efficiency and environmentally friendly LED lighting that combines the vintage look of barn-style lights with the power of LED technology.

As Barn Light Electric owners and employees pause to celebrate this week, they look ahead to a future of new products and lighting innovations while never losing touch with the past that has inspired them every step of the way.