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With the help of a $1.5 million grant from NYSERDA, the company now custom-designs and manufactures LED-based energy efficient lighting for illuminating retail store products, fast food menu boards and sign boxes. The new lighting is projected to save customers from 50% to 70% on their lighting costs, according to President/CEO Joseph Messa. "For every hour the fixtures we have produced are lit, our clients have saved over 10,000 kWh. That helps reduce carbon emissions by 7.6 tons per hour, which is tremendous since the majority of the fixtures we have produced are on 18 to 24 hours per day," said Messa. The company also works to make its products controllable, utilizing motion and daylight-sensors to reduce energy waste for customers with long hours of operation.

Furthermore, the expansion has launched the company into new energy-related ventures, including enhanced daylight harvesting and reactive power/power factor correction. In particular, Bridge Metal has signed an agreement with Echosun Energy, a neighboring startup that designs and produces deep well skylights. Bridge Metal will work in partnership with Echosun to commercialize an LED integrated skylight that senses the amount of light in the room provided by the sun and only turns on the electric lights when required. See http://www.echosunenergy.com/.  More...

As Alan Cowen, Director of Sales and Marketing, remarked, "The NYSERDA funding enabled a low-tech New York manufacturing company to develop into a cutting-edge business that is filling a void in the market and meeting the needs of  clients to attain sustainability."

The impact of the company's transition, and NYSERDA's assistance, goes beyond Bridge Metal and its customers. As Cowen explained, part of the NYSERDA funding hinged on a performance-based calculation that took into account the value of the project to the NYS economy. The amount of money received by Chirag Patel, LED Mechanical Engineer at Bridge Metal. Bridge Metal was not only based on their sales, but on the amount of  materials purchased from NYS vendors. "Our success within the program retained or created jobs at other companies within NYS," Cowen said. This created a "multiplier effect," where at least one NYS-based company expanded its own product line to accommodate Bridge's needs for materials from a local supplier. Bridge Metal satisfied that threshold, and the project is currently six months ahead of  projections. In addition, the company has hired 80-100 new employees, including engineers, designers, graphic artists, managers, machine operators and general factory workers. This type of holistic growth is demonstrative of what a clean energy business development project is meant to accomplish. For more information about current NYSERDA opportunities, visit www.nyserda.org.

What started as an expansion has resulted in a redefinition at Bridge Metal. As Messa stated, "We've decided that we are not just a lighting company; we're an energy company.  What we're really selling now is payback. If we can provide our clients with the right product with a payback of two years or less, it's a win for everybody."  See http://www.bridge metal.com