A locally based lighting operation is looking to grow a name for itself within the cannabis industry.
AB Lighting, a subsidiary of China-based Enlite Energy, launched last year with manufacturing veteran Mark Honeycutt at the helm. The operation specializes in LED grow lights tailored to the cannabis plant. Each color in the light spectrum is tuned for optimal growth, meaning what encourages the most photosynthesis, for example. The color intensities have been tested on dozens of different crops and in third-party labs to develop the best combination, Honeycutt said.
The grow lights, designed for commercial growers, operate in indoor environments. Honeycutt estimates about 300 customers use AB Lighting products, concentrated in areas where cannabis use is legal, such as California or Colorado.
State governments typically start with decriminalizing cannabis possession, later moving to approve medicinal use and then recreational use.
"As the states ... move through this transition and then they start issuing licenses for growing, then we become very interested in the states," Honeycutt said. "I also hope that North Carolina becomes legal, too. Virginia just last year went fully legal, and that's our neighboring state."
Parent company Enlite has been making grow lights for about a decade. It launched the AB Lighting brand as a separate, U.S.-based operation to better appeal to domestic growers, Honeycutt said. With domestic operations, growers often feel they will have better product support and customer service, he added. There are two distribution centers in California.
Honeycutt established his own LED lighting company, Jiawei Technology, in 2010 and expanded to Europe a couple of years later. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Office Max and Boise Cascade. He is also president and CEO at Charlotte-based Sales Force Inc., which helps manufacturers bring their products to market.
AB Lighting's Charlotte location could be an asset if North Carolina legalizes cannabis. Honeycutt is watching the state's Compassionate Care Act, which would remove penalties for medical use with debilitating conditions. The bill was referred back to a Senate committee this past summer. It passed the first reading about 10 months ago.
Honeycutt said he expects the Senate to pass the bill in 2022, followed by House approval.
The state can benefit from distributing licenses to growers and dispensaries, Honeycutt said, as well as the recurring revenue from day-to-day activities. Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia had at least partially legalized cannabis use as of May 2021.
"It is a huge moneymaker for the state, and to be quite frank, they are giving all this business to neighboring states," Honeycutt said. "It's crazy for North and South Carolina to be totally illegal. ... There's no benefit in waiting."
