October 8, 2024

Team,

Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we navigate the unprecedented challenges and uncertainties brought by Hurricane Helene.

Many of our incredible team members have rallied together to help others in both Hendersonville and Greenville, all while dealing with personal circumstances. These amazing men and women have worked tirelessly to ensure the wellbeing of our team members and the safe operations of our facilities. The Hendersonville team led by Dave Martin, Dusty Walker, and David George continue with site clean up to restore the plant to operational status. Dave Donlin, Madison Fuller and Tom Reaume have led the efforts in Greenville to ensure regular business operations. We couldn’t be more proud or thankful to know they are part of our team.

While we return to “normal” each day, we recognize that many are not able to do so. Our thoughts are with those in Western NC who have been most directly impacted and are still in the early stages of recovery from the storm.

The Current team is one that bands together for important causes, as we saw recently with the Great Cycle Challenge. The team raised $25,993 and rode 8,153 miles during the month of September. I am proud of our accomplishments and ask that you continue to demonstrate our value of Doing Right for those who most need assistance. If you are willing and able, I encourage you to join me in supporting the ongoing disaster relief efforts that are being led by so many in our communities to whatever extent you can.

A few weeks ago our sales and product teams met with our GLI Agents in Austin, Texas. We confirmed our commitment to the GLI channel and announced a new position for a dedicated sales leader for GLI luminaires. We have also made strategic decisions to expand our national sales team in the USA and focus on newly created Key Account Management and other sales positions that will increase our top line revenue.

Financially, August was our most profitable month YTD, and the highest margin attainment since the two companies joined together. While margin percentages are exceeding objectives on an annual basis, our overall revenues are slightly lower than our budget. This is due to a variety of factors including softness in the C&I markets and the ramp of various new agents. Our company is well positioned for success as our revenues return to expectations. In addition, we have a solid earnings trajectory for the remainder of the year.

I’m pleased with our progress focused on developing our people and reinvesting in the business. The Culture of Service workshops have just begun and are being led around the world by a small yet mighty team of internal employees. A positive service experience strengthens our ability to win. It not only solidifies our relationships, but also gives us a competitive advantage. I look forward to hearing your feedback from the workshops as they occur in the next few months.

You may have heard we also recently invited 25 of our sales and product management team members to do a bit of skill building together. Led by an external training firm, the cross functional group was led through communication exercises aimed at creating powerful and impactful messaging through different delivery styles. I was impressed with the resounding feedback from the class and to hear that many of our participants are engaging and pitching differently as a result.

Yesterday, we shared with the Pittsburgh team our proposed intent to close Forum, consolidating production within a twelve-month period pending the outcome of decision bargaining with the local union. Our proposed intent is to phase out Forum products, transitioning select product lines and future business to Lite Control and our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Plympton, Massachusetts. This consolidation, assuming no change to our proposal to close Forum during the decision bargaining process, will both streamline and enhance service to our agent base moving forward. We will continue to service Forum business without change during the thirty-day decision bargaining process. We expect a final decision to be made in early November following the decision bargaining process and we will update the team soon thereafter.

Team, I am proud of the work we’ve attained to date. While we are far from the finish line, we now have all the right ingredients to accelerate our journey and make a lasting impact on our customers and organization.

I am looking forward to our results this quarter. To borrow a phrase from when the companies became one in February of 2022, we will win because we are #Stronger Together.

Let’s make it happen.
Steve