The Light Source
Owners: Eric and Joyce Von Fange
Lending Partner: South Carolina Bank & Trust
Location: Charlotte (Mecklenburg County)
Project: Manufacturing Facility/Warehouse. 63,450 sq. ft. on 23 acres
Community Impact: 4 new jobs, 16 employees total
Company Mission: Manufacture Theatrical & TV Lighting Equipment
When husband-and-wife team owners Joyce and Eric Von Fange realized that their theatrical and TV lighting equipment business, The Light Source Inc. (LSI) had grown so much that two people didn’t have room to pass each other in the aisle of their lighting equipment manufacturing facility, they knew it was time to move. Plus, they had no space to put their new machinery and were paying $35 an hour to run it elsewhere. To make matters worse, they had to store their entire aluminum inventory in their parking lot.
“At first, concerns about the paperwork I thought were required to take out an SBA 504 Loan overwhelmed us, but that ended up not being the case at all – Self-Help did all the paperwork.”
So they took out an SBA 504 loan with South Carolina Bank & Trust and Self-Help to buy and up-fit a vacant 63,000 sq. ft manufacturing facility in Charlotte and buy machinery. The new facility has not only enabled The Light Source to expand its operation and add jobs, but also to be more competitive in the international market.
LSI started in 1984 and currently serves 22 countries, from Russia to Australia. Customers include big names like Disney, Six Flags and Sea World. The company’s first project was for the Rolling Stones and the couple’s young son John helped make some of the parts for that order. Now, John is the operations manager, Joyce manages finances and Eric is the creative visionary for products.
Export sales exceed 15 percent of revenues and are quickly increasing. In fact, the company is working with a testing lab to get some product up to European manufacturing standards so that it can move into that market. Eric and Joyce plans to expand the building within five years and to have a Southern Railroad spur extended through he back portion of the property to serve their expanding manufacturing scrap operation and to distribute product as his operation grows.
“We’ve got space to grow for quite a while. This move doubled our machining capacity, which helps us expand to new markets and go after more exporting.”
The Light Source is constantly improving automation to increase employees’ productivity. This increase in productivity and competitiveness through modernization and streamlined manufacturing operations has made LSI more competitive with both domestic and foreign industry manufacturers.
Fore more information, visit www.thelightsource.com.
