Times are good at Blair Companies. Blair’s Image Group is expected to grow by 27 percent this year to record volume, continuing the steady growth that has landed Blair on the INC.5000 fastest growing companies list for several years.

The Image Group is comprised of Signs, Fixtures and Logistics.

“This growth has steadily increased employment and enabled career growth,” said president and CEO Philip Devorris, whose father, Donald, founded Blair Companies in 1959. “We employ about 400 in Blair Companies (our Image Group) and close to 2,000 across the entire Blair group of businesses.”

A significant part of the growth has been Blair’s entry into the production of LED light fixtures for the commercial and industrial markets.

“We started this in 2011 when we made our first light fixture for BP,” Senior Project Engineer Matthew Barton said. “We have a patent for it called LightBar. BP came to us when another product they had was failing. We had been making electric signs for them. They said, ‘We like what you are doing.'”

At BP’s request, Blair designed a moisture-protected LED strip fixture of which nearly a million feet has been installed around the world.

In 2014, Blair launched modular light fixtures, “our biggest product in terms of value,” Barton said.

“We had a good team of designers to make signs. It was the conversion of knowledge and available technology that allowed us to pop into the market running. We’ve been running, moving quickly and coming out with new stuff. The industry moves very fast. If you sit still, you will be left in the dust,” Barton said.

Today, Blair Companies produces about 20,000 light fixtures per year, mostly niche products for national clients.

“The bulk of our lighting business is distribution of the major global lighting brands, along with some smaller niche brands that we’ve found that ideally fit our customers’ needs,” Devorris said.

Most of Blair’s business is concentrated in its top 20 customers.

“Blair’s goal overall has been to focus on about 50 customers so we can provide very personal service to deliver a wide product offering that includes lighting, signage, millwork and fascia,” Devorris said. “Lighting is unique for us as we have started to sell these standard products we created for our large customers to smaller clients and our national installer network,” Devorris said.

Sheetz Inc. is Blair’s major local customer.

In 1966, Blair built the sign for the first Sheet store and has built signs for Sheetz ever since.

Today, Blair builds awnings that go around Sheetz canopies and contain LED light fixtures, Barton said.

Blair light fixtures also can be found locally in parking lots and parking garages in Altoona.

“We coordinated our lighting fixture project through The Energy Network and Direct Energy. During our interview process, we asked TEN to coordinate with a local supplier (Blair) to use locally produced products,” said Patrick Miller, Altoona Parking Authority executive director.

“Now that the project is over, I can say the lighting in the lots and garage are great, much better than before, and we look forward to the eventual savings that we will see after we recapture the initial investment,” Miller said.

Blair Companies’ history with LEDs began in the signage industry.

In the 1990s, Blair Companies was one of the largest neon producers in the country, producing 150 miles per year by 1999. Blair began experimenting with LEDs for sign lighting during the 1990s as red LEDs in particular became brighter and more affordable.

For many years, Blair had purchased lighting products from Voltarc Industries, a specialty fluorescent tube manufacturer with a growing LED division. Blair and Voltarc partnered in 2002 to create LED Electronic Message Centers and Electronic Price Change Unit systems, Barton said.

One of their first projects was to design and create a spectacular full color EMC for AT&T Wireless in Times Square. The following year, Blair created the first EPCU for BP, which was installed in Sand Lake, Fla., and has now installed more than 10,000 EPCU’s throughout the United States and beyond.

Blair purchased the LED business from Voltarc in 2004 and relocated the team to Altoona. Blair became adept at balancing moisture intrusion and thermal management for exterior LED fixtures.

Blair was recently asked by the world’s largest diamond jewelry retailer to design a unique LED light fixture for a new store design. The chain has more than 3,600 stores globally, and has been looking for nearly a year at prototypes of a large LED-lit diamond chandelier to illuminate the entrance way.

“The diamond will be visible from the exterior, and design parameters included exactly replicating the 58-facets of their patented brilliant cut diamond. They wanted this design feature to echo the fire, color and brilliance of a real diamond, but in a size equivalent to 13,366,043 carats,” lead project engineer Lee Strayer said. “Our team put a huge amount of work into this one, and it was really gratifying for a client to travel all day to Altoona and still want to see the prototype hanging when he arrived at 10 p.m. at night.”

“The only thing better than his excitement to see it was his reaction. ‘Awesome’ is a really nice thing to hear at the end of a long day,” Barton said.

Blair’s success is a result of relying on its diverse engineering talent to create what its major customers want.

“In the case of LED fixtures, that means merging the experience we have gained through 45 years as a national lighting distributor, with the 65 years of installation experience gained as an electrical contractor and the 15 years gained through designing, installing and maintaining LED gas price signs and message centers,” Devorris said.

“The LED fixtures we actually design and produce are targeted at fairly narrow niche markets, but we’re world class at the niches we work with in our global accounts.”

Blair can move quickly from concept to implementation.

“That is why we have been successful. Lots of companies go through lengthy design and approval processes. We do all that we can do to be quick,” Barton said.

The production of LED light fixtures is a great example of one of Blair’s core values – innovation.

“When our customer needed a specialty lighting product that was affordable and very reliable under all weather conditions, we searched the world over for exactly what was needed. When we weren’t satisfied with what we found, we designed it for them and launched a business just to satisfy their need,” Devorris said.

The future of the LED light fixtures business looks promising.

“Our ability to react quickly to market trends will keep us in business with this product. Technology moves very quickly. We are on top of it. When new things come out, we take it to our team and put together models and create a proposal,” Barton said.