Dialight's Director of Marketing and LED lighting expert Michael Schratz plans to discuss the benefits of sustainable lighting for the state of North Carolina at the CleanLinks networking event at 6 p.m. on Monday, October 18 at the Hotel Indigo in Durham, NC. The event is sponsored by SJF Ventures and the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

As part of the "Lighting up NC – Sustainably" panel discussion, Schratz will be joined by other representatives in the LED industry, as well as Progress Energy and the City of Raleigh, to define how and why energy efficient lighting works from a financial, technological and political/environmental perspective and how this burgeoning industry can contribute to growth in the state's economy.

Dialight recently expanded manufacturing operations at its Roxboro, NC facility. The plant is one of the only LED lighting technology manufacturing facilities of its kind in the U.S., producing Dialight's energy-efficient traffic lights, military vehicle lights, bus lighting, networking light pipes and LED auto assembly machines.

According to Schratz, "Not only does LED technology make sense financially for individual businesses and municipalities by saving on energy and maintenance costs, But, as the LED industry expands, it also provides employment and other economic opportunities that can benefit the entire region."