ICON Opens New China Office

Global Presence Necessary for Sustainable Growth and Job Creation

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ICON, a Rhode Island based commercial lighting design company, is expanding with the opening of an office in Hong Kong, China. The new office is part of the company’s business model for sustainable growth and job creation. Although ICON is a small business, employing only 35 people, it has a national reputation for quality, creativity, customer service, and competitive pricing.

“The new ICON China office, will work closely with our China factories to provide constant communication and quality checks. That means when our next product rolls out from our Chinese manufacturer, we’ll be there and have the ability to provide on-site guidance, approval and adjustment.”

“While it is unusual for a company of our size to open an office in China, we realized that to remain competitive, we needed to be on the ground in Asia,” said Michael Goeller, ICON President. “The new ICON China office, will work closely with our China factories to provide constant communication and quality checks. That means when our next product rolls out from our Chinese manufacturer, we’ll be there and have the ability to provide on-site guidance, approval and adjustment.”

With the Chinese office in place, ICON anticipates growth in research and design, engineering, purchasing and accounting jobs at its Rhode Island headquarters. The company’s teams are aggressively developing customized, cost competitive LED lighting systems- and in May of 2010, ICON established itself as an industry leader with the unveiling of a new groundbreaking cost-neutral LED spotlight- the Satellite 2120 making green technology affordable for its commercial customers.

ICON’s President Michael Goeller, who traveled to China to open the new office and to meet with factory representatives in Ningbo, Shenzhen and Zhongshan, says ICON, is striving for the best balance in using overseas and US manufacturers depending on, cost, complexity, quality, efficiency and customer demands.

ICON’s China office will work directly with Chinese factories to avoid errors that can add 20% to the cost of overseas manufacturing. In addition, Goeller notes, ICON is also continuing to partner with US Manufacturers – during the product design phase which provides early input on material costs and ease of manufacturing.

About ICON: ICON International is a privately held full service commercial lighting company. A platinum member of the U.S. Green Energy Council, ICON has embedded sustainability ideals in its products and actions. For more than 60 years, ICON has delivered unique, high-quality lighting for its customers. The company’s tradition of quality, innovation and customer service coupled with an experienced and creative Research and Design team have consistently set the standard for industry lighting solutions.