The Nova Scotia government is investing another $1 million in a company that makes LED lighting for the province’s roads and highways and exports its products around the world.
Nova Scotia Business Inc., the province’s business development agency, announced that it is making the equity investment in LED Roadway Lighting, based in Amherst and Halifax.
Including this latest investment, NSBI has made an $11-million equity investment in the company since 2009.
“A company needs cash to fuel that growth,” Peter MacNeil, NSBI’s director of venture capital, said Friday.
The $1 million, announced Friday at the company’s manufacturing facility in Amherst, is part of a $5-million round of investment that the privately-held company has raised for working capital.
The provincial government has also previously provided a $10-million loan guarantee to the company.
An equity investment means that Nova Scotia taxpayers hold shares in the company. But because the company is privately held, Peter MacNeil, NSBI’s director of venture capital, is unable to say how many shares Nova Scotians own.
The company got its start 11 years ago, and in 2007 began to focus on LED technology. LED Roadway Lighting has over 150 employees in Amherst and 50 employees at its head office and research-and-design centre in Halifax.
Charles Cartmill, president and CEO of LED Roadway Lighting,said with the new round of investment the company expects to immediately hire another 15 to 16 employees in Amherst.
The company now has contracts in 34 different countries. At home, it won a contract last year to sell Nova Scotia Power up to 85,000 of its energy-saving street lights.
Under provincial law, all of Nova Scotia’s highway lighting must be converted to energy-saving LEDs by the end of 2019. Municipalities have until the end of 2022 to complete the conversion.
