China firm joins local team to make 'green' bulbs

October 04, 2007
By Dave Alexander
Muskegon Chronicle Business Editor

A group of investors in Muskegon has joined forces with one of the largest privately held companies in China to market energy-efficient products throughout North America and eventually the world.

EarthTronics Michigan -- to be headquartered in downtown Muskegon -- is being formed through a strategic alliance with the Hengdian Group of Dongyang, China, to introduce a new line of energy-efficient lighting, fixtures and electronic ballast. The company wants to create a brand synonymous with "green" and "efficient."

The first product will be a compact florescent light product called "Earth Bulb."

EarthTronics has set up operations in the Grand Valley State University's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center in Edison Landing, but will occupy a newly announced 10,000-square-foot third floor in the Hines Building, which also will become the new home of the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce when built. The university energy center will work with the company on its development.

Reg Adams -- a former Muskegon trucking company owner and current plastics manufacturing executive -- is the new president and chief executive officer of the new company as well as an investor.

Adams has formed the company along with the owners of Ameriform Inc., a Harris family company in Muskegon, as well as other unnamed investors from Muskegon and elsewhere. Adams had been heading Five Peaks Technologies, the maker of plastic portable toilets. He will continue to serve on the Ameriform board, he said.

"We want to take EarthTronics global," Adams said

The Earth Bulb is 70 percent more efficient than traditional incandescent light bulbs and has a 10-year lifespan. However, it costs more than twice as much as a traditional bulb. Only 5 percent of the U.S. market now uses compact florescent lights, but that is expected to grow to 100 percent in the next 10 to 15 years, Adams said.

The expansion of the market "provides a huge opportunity," Adams said.

The bulbs for residential and commercial use will be manufactured in China with sales, marketing, administration and research activities in Muskegon, Adams said.

EarthTronics will look at other energy-efficiency products in the future. EarthTronics Technologies is a Muskegon division that will provide research and development along with energy audits for the West Michigan region.

"This company fits our mission and they are being fairly aggressive," said Imad Mahawili, director of the GVSU energy center. "This is the kind of economic development that we have been pursuing. This is a very good story for Muskegon."

EarthTronics will begin with four employees at the GVSU energy center this month but should have 40 employees after the first year. Hengdian is sending two employees from China to be permanently located in Muskegon.

Adams said the Chinese company and the EarthTronics investment group met through a new product that Ameriform's KL Industries is now marketing. KL Industries entered the lighting sector with the introduction of outdoor and underwater fixtures named GlowBuoy and BeaconBuoy.

The four-year relationship with Hengdian evolved into the new strategic alliance with EarthTronics, Adams said. The Hengdian Group is one of the 10 largest private companies in China with 41,000 employees working across a number of different divisions that produce fabricated metals, magnets and electrical supplies. Hengdian is the largest electric motor producer in China, Adams said.

Hengdian has an office in Los Angeles but will close that operation and move employees here. EarthTronics investors decided to establish the company in Muskegon, where its energy-saving products can be tested in a middle-sized American city.

"We need all of the Muskegon area to do its part," Adams said. "As a pilot for the country, here we can demonstrate to the world what truly can be accomplished given the commitment (to energy efficiency)."

Besides trying to get EarthTronics products into Muskegon homes and businesses, the company also will roll out an educational program on conservation to change local behavior when it comes to energy use, Adams said.

"We are pleased to be a pilot community to help test their product here," said Ed Garner, president of Muskegon Area First, the economic development agency. "My hope is they will be able to work with GVSU's MAREC. The environment has always been important in West Michigan. Muskegon fits well with this concept."

Land preparation has already begun on the Hines Building that is expected to be open by mid-summer. The building at Third Street and West Western Avenue is a key component of the "city center" redevelopment of the former Muskegon Mall property.

The Hines Building construction had been delayed as the third story was designed and steel reordered, according to Capstone Real Estate's Mike Teeter. EarthTronics will have a long-term lease in the Hines Building, Adams said.

"It was well worth the delay to get this company into downtown Muskegon," Teeter said. "It think it is just fantastic, showing a real commitment to the downtown. I think the downtown has gotten over the hump."

© 2007 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission