KC HiLiTES: Illuminating Adventure

Off-road vehicle light company expanding in Northern Arizona

By V. Ronnie Tierney, QCBN

KC HiLiTES, the shining star of off-road vehicle lights, is moving to Flagstaff, and City of Flagstaff Economic Development Business Attraction Manager Jack Fitchett is thrilled.

“This is the type of company we want to attract to our city,” said Fitchett. “Businesses with high quality products that have low-impact [environmentally friendly] jobs fit nicely into our manufacturing targeting sector.”

As an internationally known and respected business, KC HiLiTES began its humble beginnings in Saugus, California. Founder Peter “Kim” Brown discovered the need for offroad lighting during a camping trip in Parker in the early ‘60s. After almost missing a turn in his off-road vehicle, Brown decided he needed brighter lights, which didn’t exist at the time. He found aircraft landing bulbs, put them in housings, attached them on his truck and, voila, a star by the name of KC HiLiTES was born.

Of course, friends liked the idea and also wanted some lights for their vehicles, so as demand grew, Brown decided to turn his garage into a factory and recruited local stay-at-home moms to work with him while their kids were in school. He also convinced his friends, Bob and Carol DeLander, to help with the business. At the time, they were living in Saugus, California.

Today, the age-old KC branding of the iconic yellow and black smiley face can be seen on off-road vehicles, trucks, snowblowers, construction machinery and military vehicles around the world. KC HiLiTES also caught the attention of professional off-road racers and appear at competitive events.

Early on, Brown developed a partnership with Mike Wang, a supplier from California. The two became good friends and both had sons in the business. Brown’s stepson, Michael DeHaas, started working in the warehouse, eventually stepped into sales, and in 2004, purchased KC HiLites as the next CEO. Wang’s son, Alan, became an investor and partner to KC HiLites and purchased the company from DeHaas in 2015. He is now president and CEO of the company.

“During that time, we started seeing headwinds across the business,” said Alan. “Together, Michael and our family saw an opportunity to leverage our long-standing supply chain relationship to create a run for growth in the years to come.”

Today, KC HiLiTES continues as a family-owned business.

“It has been great seeing the KC history embraced by keeping the company in Arizona, specifically,

Flagstaff,” said DeHaas. “They have developed many new products to bolster the KC product offering and really have done a great job in their business expansion efforts. KC HiLiTES is in great hands with a bright future!”

Flagstaff resident Ron Pryczynski has worked for KC for 20 years. “I started in the summer of 1999 and worked with Pete and Michael as sales and events coordinator. I moved into product development and when Alan took over, I moved into the general manager position,” he said. “With the new management, it’s definitely a new company, as it has evolved a lot. It’s more technology focused with the

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