Solatube Global Marketing Inc. has relocated its headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif. to Vancouver in hopes to grow revenue and improve employee culture.
“[Vancouver] became a no-brainer,” said Brett Hanley, president of Solatube Global Marketing (SGM), which is an international distributor of Tubular Daylighting Devices.
Because of the economic benefits associated with the move, SGM expects to shave more than $100,000 off its bottom line annually, while still having enough resources to invest in growth, said Hanley.
“We were looking for a change out of Southern California to be able to increase growth and provide a great environment for employees,” said Hanley.
The company considered cities in Florida, Nevada and Texas, but ultimately chose office space in Vancouver because of the low cost of living, proximity to the Portland International Airport, attractive tax incentives and reasonable business costs.
“We are a green company, and we connect people to daylight on a daily basis,” said Hanley. “This area meets a lot of culture targets of being green and having an emphasis on environment.”
The cost of living in the Portland-metro is about 52 percent less than what it is in the San Diego area, said Hanley. “Instead of renting in the San Diego market, our employees could actually buy a house,” he said.
In September, SGM re-hired 40 percent of its team and now has a total of seven employees who work at the Park Plaza Office Towers Campus (13115 NE 4th St.).
SGM expects to double its employee base within five years – part of the company’s “2020” plan to reach $20 million in revenue by the year 2020. To do this, the company plans to focus on marketing strategies, community involvement and employee development.
Solatube Global Marketing licenses and markets day lighting devices manufactured by Vista, Calif.-based Solatube International Inc. throughout Europe, Latin America, Central Asia and The Middle East.
Daylighting devices transfer ambient light from the outdoors into interior buildings, reducing energy usage and ultimately improving employee productivity.
“You can be in the office with less eye strain and no headache from the (fluorescent) lights flickering,” said Hanley.
The devices can be installed in bathrooms, kitchens, offices, retailers, distribution centers and even the fighting arena at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“We sell from Mrs. Jones’ house to 1.5 million-square-foot distribution centers for Coca-Cola and Walmart,” said Hanley. “We have been around for 25 years, but the world is a big place, and there are lot of people still not familiar with Solatube.”
SGM continues to grow its revenue 25-30 percent per year since it was founded in 1998. International companies have begun to enforce stricter sustainability standards to help curb brown and black power outages occurring, he said.
“We are seeing that [LEED]ontributing products like ours are being required more and more,” said Hanley. “Governments are getting involved and want countries to be more sustainable, even where electric may be cheap.”
For example, SGM recently installed 2,300 Solatubes at a Coca-Cola distribution center in Peru. The project reduces the electric load on the building, while ambient lighting creates a better work environment.
“In most warehouses, typically 60 percent of the electric load is from lighting,” he said. “We are able to remove 70 percent of the load just by turning the lights off. If they are consuming less electricity, there’s more to go around.”
