Area Development
High Tech Lights LLC, a Honolulu, Hawaii-based company that manufactures indoor/outdoor LED lights, has announced it will relocate to Las Vegas. The firm plans to invest $1.2 million in equipment for a new 10,000-sq.-ft. facility, and eventually hire 150 workers.

High Tech Lights manufactures energy-efficient, common-use spotlights, streetlights and replacements for fluorescent lighting.

President Tony Jones said the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year severely affected his company's business, and accelerated plans to expand to new markets. From the company's new Las Vegas headquarters, it will launch a five-year plan to market in North America.

The company's manufacturing facility is moving from mainland China, where Jones said labor costs have increased 30 percent since the plant went online in 2007. R&D materials already are being shipped to Las Vegas from China, and the company's 50 R&D employees should start work within six weeks, he added.

State officials said the company is a part of the renewable energy sector, a targeted industry. Nevada's Economic Development Commission qualified High Tech Lights for tax abatements and deferrals totaling over $130,000 due to the company's capital investment and average wage of $20 an hour. The Silver State Works Program is also helping the company hire from a pool of qualified unemployed applicants. Training grants worth $121,000 (administered by the state through a federal program) will give High Tech Lights $2,420 per trained employee.

An analysis of the incentives by the state revealed that over 10 years, the lighting firm will generate $1.6 million in new taxes and produce an economic impact of $198.1 million for Nevada.