Injection molder Autronic Plastics Inc. has acquired LaMar Lighting in Farmingdale, N.Y., and moved LaMar's operation to API's base in Central Islip, N.Y., where it has a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
Founded in 1953, API serves a variety of markets including lighting and life safety with products like exit signs, emergency signs, traffic light lenses and controls, and street lamp covers.
Founded in 1957, LaMar manufactures LED and fluorescent lighting fixtures for commercial, industrial and residential applications, including the specialty fixtures that backlight the marquee at the world-famous Radio City Music Hall in New York.
LaMar joins API's Clear-Vu Lighting, Clear-Vu Medical and Clear-Vu Media businesses to manufacture LED lighting for the commercial, industrial, transit, life sciences and construction product industries.
LaMar CEO Jeff Goldstein and some sales, engineering and productions managers also made the move to API. LaMar is serving its customers and utilizing API resources to expand its product lines, Goldstein said in a phone interview.
"Some of our parts have been made overseas out of steel," he added. "API will tool up and injection mold them here in the U.S. out of polycarbonate, which is very strong and lighter weight and quite durable. We're in the process of making some of those changes. That's one way it is benefiting us."
API also has a brand and subsidiary called Clear-Vu Lighting that produces surgical suite lighting and transit lighting, Goldstein said.
"Their light fixtures in subway tunnels talk to each [other] and report back to the operations center," he said. "Some fixtures have heat sensors in case of a fire in the tunnel and proximity sensors to determine exactly where a train is located within the tunnel. We see a lot of synergies in these companies."
API launched Clear-Vu Lighting in 2008 and says it was the first to light up an entire construction site, the first to light sidewalks under bridge and shed scaffolding, and the first to support LED lighting with third rail input.
Clear-Vu Lighting CEO and founder Daniel Lax said the company is integrating LaMar and its strong lighting legacy into its advanced production capabilities.
"LaMar Lighting and its brands Lamar LED and Occu-Smart have a history of success in the commercial lighting market," Lax said in a news release. "These products, combined with Clear-Vu Lighting's MTLX, Flex SLS and cleanLED will round out the national market's lighting line card."
Autronic opened its manufacturing site in 2013 after investing $9.5 million into the facility to house its relocated operations from Westbury, N.Y., and Fletcher, N.C. Goldstein said about 150 employees work multiple shifts.