Cree and LED lighting are starting a revolution
While standing with local media in a hallway at Cree Monday, I heard a familiar voice. It belonged to President Barack Obama, only it wasn’t coming from the TV or the radio. I looked around the corner, and there he stood – President Obama, shaking hands with Cree CEO Chuck Swoboda.
This wasn’t your ordinary day at the office.
Then the door I was standing beside flung open and the White House press pool – about 15 reporters and photographers who flew in from D.C. to cover the president – rushed down the hallway to catch up with the president. I grabbed my video camera and scurried after them.
President Obama visited Cree Monday to tour one of our LED lighting manufacturing lines, meet with his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and to address Cree employees. Cree was honored to play host to the president and his Jobs and Competitiveness Council.
Here are some highlights from his visit:
After exchanging greetings in the hallway, President Obama joined Chuck for a tour of our new LED troffer manufacturing line. The press pool packed together behind a rope in three tiers: The photographers knelt, the TV cameramen stood behind them and the reporters hung out in back.
Cree CEO Chuck Swoboda (right) leads President Barack Obama on a tour of one of Cree's LED lighting manufacturing lines.
We were eager to show the president where we manufacture our new LED troffer lights, the CR Series. It’s been three years since Obama visited Cree while he was on the campaign trail, and since that time our LEDs have doubled in efficiency. So we had a lot to catch him up on. Chuck explained that these new LED lights are designed to replace the outdated fluorescent tubes that line the ceilings of many commercial buildings. In fact, LED lighting is the world’s most energy-efficient lighting!
You can watch some raw footage I shot of the Chuck leading the president through the factory here:
The president broke away from the tour to shake hands with employees. One of them was Josephine Lynch, who secured a job at Cree two months ago. News & Observer reporter Rob Christensen interviewed her and wrote:
“She said her years of unemployment had been a struggle that she managed only with the help of family. She went back to school to get electronics certification.”
After Obama told her to “keep up the good work,” Rob reported that she responded:
“Oooh, I’m going to be the coolest mom on my block.”
Once the tour was complete, Obama joined the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which was already seated in Cree’s café. Only the president probably had no idea that the meeting was in a cafeteria. All signs of the dining hall were removed. Blue curtains lined the walls, tables were covered with cloths and no one was gaining entry to that room unless the Secret Service said so.
I snapped this photo with my iPhone while photographers were allowed in the room.
It was the second meeting of the new Jobs Council, which the president created so he could receive non-partisan advice on ways to improve the economy, create jobs and keep the United States competitive. The Council committed to meeting outside of DC following its first meeting in February. Cree, located in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, was selected to host the follow-up meeting.
The president briefly addressed the Council, giving photographers a chance to take photos and record footage. Then everyone with a camera was ushered out of the room. Reporters were allowed to stay to cover the meeting. During the meeting, the council outlined some recommendations designed to help spur economic growth and increase jobs in the short term and long term.
When President Obama walked into Cree’s auditorium, employees rose and reached for their cameras. It seemed as if everyone in the room was holding a camera or cell phone, trying to preserve the day the president came to work.
Cree employees listen to remarks.
Then the president did something I don’t think anyone was expecting. He called out Cree employee David Jones by name, saying that he met David during a campaign stop at Cree in 2008. David reminded the president of the visit during Monday’s factory tour, when David pulled out a picture the pair had taken together in 2008. Obama joked that his hair wasn’t as gray in the picture.
“It’s true, I’ve got a lot more gray hair now than I did the last time I visited. But I have better plane, so it’s a fair trade,” Obama quipped, referring to Air Force One.
Then the president got serious, highlighting the recommendations he just received from the Jobs and Competitiveness Council. Those recommendations include increasing the number of engineering graduates in the U.S. by 10,000 per year and working with community and vocational schools to train workers. You can read more about the recommendations here.
President Obama addresses the audience at Cree.
Obama also touted his new Better Buildings Initiative, which aims to help business owners upgrade buildings for energy efficiency. It’s a move the president says could save America’s businesses up to $40 billion a year on their utility bills.
“And obviously that $40 billion could be better spent growing and hiring new workers. It will boost manufacturing of energy-efficient products like those made here at Cree. It will put contractors and construction workers back on the job. It is a win-win-win-win proposition.”
You can see a full transcript of the president’s remarks here.
The president also gave Cree props for the work it has done over the past 20+ years to advance technology and create jobs.
“Today the small business that a group of N.C. State engineering students founded almost 25 years ago is a global company. It’s got 5,000 employees. Next month, your new production line will begin running 24/7. And soon you’ll add another 400,000 square feet of space on a new site next door. So you’re helping to lead a clean energy revolution. You’re helping lead the comeback of American manufacturing. This is a company where the future will be won.”
Indeed, we believe in the future of an energy-efficient world. The LED Lighting Revolution is happening now. And we won’t be satisfied until every energy-wasting light is replaced.
It’s hard to believe that four months ago Cree employees were framing the world’s first all LED-lit Habitat for Humanity House.
A lot has happened since that August morning when Cree employees met at the home site in Durham, North Carolina to frame the house. For starters, we broke a local record for fastest framing of a Durham Habitat home, completing the entire process in just a few hours.
Then we worked hard to build a three bedroom house for our family, the Rahlan-Ksors. The experience gave us the opportunity to learn new skills (if you need anyone to drill holes into the foundation of a home to anchor the frame, I’m your gal) and to help give a new family an energy-efficient home.
We gathered at the completed home on Saturday to celebrate with the family. As we set up for the dedication ceremony in their new driveway, Del Rahlan grabbed a broom and started sweeping away mulch that was kicked onto the sidewalk. I wouldn’t have even noticed the mulch if he hadn’t started sweeping. Then I realized how much pride Del truly had in his new home that he wanted every detail to be perfect for the ceremony.
As we stood in the family’s driveway with their church members and fellow Habitat volunteers, our CEO Chuck Swoboda announced that the LED lighting in the new home would save the family about $300 in electricity annually. It’s possible that Del and his wife won’t have to change a light bulb until their children graduate from college.
And while it was rewarding to help build this energy-efficient a home for Del and his family, we feel even better knowing that Cree’s commitment to Habitat for Humanity doesn’t end there. Nationwide, we’ve pledged to install two Cree CR6 LED downlights in the kitchens of every Habitat home constructed during the next three years. It’s a move that will help bring energy-efficient, long lasting lighting to new homeowners.
So as we celebrate the completion of the home for our Habitat family, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the beginning. Here are some scenes from the ground breaking, way back on Aug. 7. Take a look at where we started and how it ended.
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The local newspaper highlighted the dedication ceremony as part of its 12 Days of Giving series. It was wonderful watching this house turn into a home.
This week we’re going to giveaway 2 Cree CR6 LED downlights to one lucky tweep in our Twitter contest. Simply join us in celebrating the completion of our all LED-lit Habitat house by tweeting us with the hashtag #CreeHabitat. We’ll randomly pick one winner to win the lights (which are the same lights we’re installing in Habitat homes throughout the country) at 4:30 p.m. EST Friday, Dec. 17. Not sure what to tweet, simply Retweet what we’ve posted here.
And, of course, our standard contest rules apply: Cree’s decisions are final and binding. The contest is limited to legal residents, 18 or older, of the 50 United States and District of Columbia. Void where prohibited. Void in Arizona, Florida, New York, and Rhode Island. Winners will be notified via Twitter and must claim prize within 30 days of email notification.
Former Vice President Al Gore will give the 2010 spring Duke Environment and Society Lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 8. Gore received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy of environmental causes. I will be attending the simulcast of his remarks at the Griffith Theater in the Bryan Center at Duke University. The live blog will start at 6 p.m. tonight. You can also follow us on Twitter for updates using the hashtag #GoreDuke.
I put together some clips from Vice President Biden’s trip to Cree last week. The video features some of his remarks, along with interviews from employees who got to meet with the vice president and comments from our CEO Chuck Swoboda:
We will begin event coverage at approximately noon EST today! Vice President Biden will speak at our manufacturing plant to discuss middle class issues, including creating good manufacturing jobs and building the clean energy economy.
In case you don’t know, Cree is an LED chip and LED lighting manufacturer in Durham, NC. Our company mission is to obsolete energy-wasting light bulbs, including incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. You can learn more at CreeLEDRevolution.com or follow @Cree on Twitter.
My boss has been talking in hushed whispers and racing around our campus. I couldn’t wait for her to break her silence so I could find out what was going on. Turns out Vice President Joe Biden wanted to visit our Durham, NC, manufacturing campus. Since then she has had her hands full with arranging access and taking care of the many details that come along with having our country’s No. 2 leader stop by for a visit.
The Vice President will tour and make remarks at Cree on Thursday. For those of you who don’t know, Cree manufactures LEDs and energy-efficient LED lights. Our company mission is to obsolete energy-wasting light bulbs, including incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. We strongly believe that the cleanest, cheapest energy is the energy you never use. And the Department of Energy estimates that widespread adoption of LED lighting by 2025 will reduce electricity demands from lighting by 62 percent.
We’re working hard to educate the public about this energy-efficient technology. And we’re thrilled that our company is growing. We anticipate adding another 300 American jobs during the next several years, in addition to the many jobs we added in 2009. Cree received a $39 million Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help purchase new equipment and bring these new jobs to our North Carolina manufacturing facility to increase production.
So we can’t wait to show off our campus and hard working employees to the vice president and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, who will be accompanying Biden on the trip. We’ve been told the pair is interested in hearing from our employees about the challenges and issues they face in their day-to-day lives.
I’ll be live tweeting the remarks made by Vice President Biden and Energy Secretary Chu (along with other observations about what it’s like to have the Vice President come to your company for the day). You can follow along on Twitter, we’ll use the hashtag #BidenCree. In the meantime, you can learn more about the LED lighting Revolution here.
