Alan Karen Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
At the close of the Lighting One convention, Alan Karen of SATCO was announced as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
This year’s recipient of Lighting One’s Lifetime Achievement Award – Alan Karen of SATCO – was unable to be at the awards presentation in person due to a prior commitment, however, Lighting One created a special ceremony for him in the SATCO showroom during Lightovation.
“I couldn’t be more proud and honored to be here to celebrate Alan,” noted Angie Prost, vice president of Lighting One at the event. “Alan has been in this industry for over 30 years and has been a partner to Lighting One for over 25 years. He is always supportive of our showroom members – whether it’s a supplier partner, a retail partner, DMC, the American Lighting Association – and he’s always there and willing to help out.” Turning to Karen when presenting the award, she added, “In the past 10 years that I’ve known you, you’ve been a mentor to me in my role and I really appreciate everything you’ve done in the lighting industry.”
Gregg Garofalo, president of Lighting One, said, “Alan is a business partner, a friend and an industry leader. He’s someone you can trust. When he says he’s going to do something, he does it. He’s also fun to be with and a great gentleman.”
In accepting the award, Karen stated, “I am wowed by all of this. First, let me thank the owners of SATCO: Billy Gildin and Rhonda Grobman. They are the second generation running the company.” [Editor’s Note: Bill Gildin, president and CEO is the son of founder Herb Gildin; Rhonda Grobman, treasurer, is the daughter of founder Lou Kauffman.]
Karen also gave a shout out to Brian Brandes, senior vice president, whom he has worked alongside for 20+ years. He told the audience that Brandes has likened their business partnership to the iconic phrase “words and music” from the hit 1983 film Eddie and the Cruisers.
“Everything that you see displayed here [gesturing around the showroom] is the ‘music’ that Brian creates and I turn around and put ‘words’ to it so I can go out and sell it with the most amazing sales team out there,” Karen said.
Noting that SATCO is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Karen added that “This is the 20th year for Nuvo Lighting and has been 10 years since we created our Canadian business. And it’s now three months for my son, Luke, who just joined the company.”
In closing, Karen said, “I can’t thank you enough for this award. I want to truly thank all of the lighting showrooms that have supported SATCO. You got us to the point where we were first a lamp manufacturer, then a lighting manufacturer, and look what we’re introducing now with Nuvo Monogram. I am humbled by all of you coming to share in this with me. I’m thrilled to work for this company, and this industry and I hope I can give back as much as it has given to me.”
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