Up Close With Bill Hurd

By Shirley Coyle, LC

With both of his parents working for IBM, Bill Hurd and his siblings grew up experiencing the internal company moniker that IBM stands for I’ve Been Moved. “We moved about every two years,” Bill reminisced, “living in three different houses in Boston, three in New York, and two in the D.C. area before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, when I was at the end of high school. We all took a positive spin on it – it forced me to adjust, to get out there, meet friends.” Within a few years of graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bill put those acquired skills in relationship-building to work when he had the opportunity to join Philips Lighting (now Signify) as a regional manager, covering the Southeast for the C&I, Consumer and OEM businesses.

As a self-described non-technical person with a business degree, Bill rose to the challenge of learning the product technology and the industry, building relationships and knowledge over his fourteen years with Philips. “I really committed myself to learn the technology, to be in front of the customer and have credibility – to say the right things, not just give a sales pitch, and to understand how to teach about the technology and all the options.”

Then came the opportunity to buy a small, regional company – a contractor and distributor in lighting, and Bill made the leap of faith from a regular paycheck to being an entrepreneur. He noted, “I’m a fairly conservative, risk-averse person, but I took a big risk in leaving the security of Philips for a tiny company that needed some leadership, and we grew it into an exciting business” (Nova Lighting was eventually sold to Border States Electrical).

In 2012, Bill, with partners Kevin Franklin and Jason Brafford, founded Lightserve. “Since then, we bought five companies to fulfill our portfolio, so now we do everything from distribution to managed services – with a national footprint (fifty states plus Canada and Puerto Rico). We do a ton of lighting retrofit projects, and with our distributor arm, we buy all our own materials direct from manufacturers. It’s a lot of fun.”

Reflecting on current issues facing the lighting industry, Bill offers three. His first concern is customers getting oversold on the LED technology or the controls solution. He elaborated, “You need to meet code or legislation, but it’s about providing the customer with what they need. I’ve seen so many cases where they’ve been oversold, and the technology ends up de-commissioned. Controls are critical, and they’re here to stay. But, we need to bring integrity to the process, understanding the impact on ROI and not over-selling.”

Secondly, he said, “We need to take care of the installers, the folks that are members of NALMCO. They are critical, but the industry often takes installers for granted – none of us can be successful without those folks doing project management, doing the installs with safety and the whole bit…we need to help them make money, so they will continue to be there, and we need to pay them on time. These are small companies who need the cash flow to pay their workers!”

Lastly, “We’ve sifted through a lot of new competitors jumping in with not-so-quality products – they don’t survive because they cannot respond to defective and warranty costs. They jump in, and then they go away. So, we are sticking with the major manufacturers, and the truly legit controls manufacturers who have good technology.”

Asked about his success throughout his career, Bill’s immediate reaction is that “it’s all about the people – I believe God put people in my life at the right time, the right place, that mentored me, coached me. I still have thirty-to-thirty-five-year relationships because of that – because people have poured into me to help create my success. I’m trying to pour it into others now.” Bill also notes that the fact that lighting is “pretty recession-proof” has helped in his success, along with understanding legacy technology – particularly depreciation and life-ratings differences between the old and the new technology.

At this stage in his career, Bill is delighted to be able to step back and focus on what he loves to do, with his role as Chief Business Officer at Lightserve explicitly including being involved in the industry and mentoring the next generation. And what advice does Bill have for young people coming into the industry? “Understand the product technology (new and old); understand the industry, and find an industry mentor. Get involved in the industry associations, not just as a member, but join a committee –not for the title and recognition, but because you want to get involved and to support the mission. Have integrity –treat people the right way. If you do all that, you can have an amazing career that can be tremendously fulfilling in the lighting space!”

Bill himself is still involved in associations (NALMCO and NAILD), noting, “I just think it’s important to stay involved. I’ve got tons of energy; I still feel young – I still go out and do audits. I don’t want to lose sight of the trenches – I don’t want to just sit behind a desk and be an executive! I love levity…I try to bring levity into every day, in my job and outside my job. I can be serious when I need to be. I’m still driving sales and making money. I’m a big balance guy – balance is so important. I love this industry and this company so much that I have fun at work – and to balance, I have great fun in my home life. I have a beautiful, supportive wife, Robin, and I’m really blessed as well to have my son, Grant Hurd, working with Lightserve, and now my brother, Ken Hurd, also working here. When I’m not working, I play a lot of pickleball, tennis, and golf, and I go to boot camp a couple of days a week. I’m trying to stay active physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Bill Hurd sets an example for us in maintaining balance – he loves entrepreneurship in his daily work, loves our industry, and loves life outside of work.