Page 48 - Lighting Magazine December 2019

UNDER
THE
RADAR
Marash calls his company’s display tower “our Innovations vending machine” due to its ease of use. Dealers simply invest in the display with no need to order inventory. “We ship orders same day before 2PM, have a 10-percent freight cap, a 2.2 IMAP, and no strings attached,” Marash says.
Among those early accounts who took a chance with the line were retail powerhouses such as Lamps Plus, Capitol Lighting, HI-LIGHT, Horton’s, and Connecticut Lighting, to name a few. Now, beginning with the summer market, Innovations Lighting has its own permanent space adjacent to the American Lighting Brands showroom. “People think we’re too good to be true, but we ship all stocking orders on the same day and we’re honest with our customers about shipping dates. It’s all family values,” Marash states.
“It makes you feel good to be able to help someone.”
GivinG Back
When Innovations Lighting began expanding, the first place he thought to look for good warehouse help was Graymoor. Having been through the pro- gram, shoulder to shoulder with good people who faced difficulty getting hired out of rehab, Marash wanted to extend a helping hand.
Offering minimum wage and a safe environ- ment for a recovering addict – “We start each day together, saying the AA Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference” – Marash offers part-time work for those who have already completed one year of sober living. “A lot of those part-time workers have turned into full- time employees. It makes you feel good to be able to help someone,” he notes.
One of those people is Greg Mazza, a former mortgage banker and business owner, whom Marash met at Graymoor. “I happened to be at a golf course one day and noticed Greg on a lawnmower, cutting the grass. I recognized him from the program and had heard him speak [his story] and liked how he presented himself at Graymoor. I invited him to work for me in the warehouse,” Marash recounts. Excelling at the menial tasks, Mazza was soon given opportunities in customer service and later sales management before serving in his current position as VP/Sales & Marketing, where he was also responsible for the visual merchandising of the company’s new
44 enLIGHTenment Magazine | DeceMber 2019
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