Universal Lighting Technologies announces the addition of lighting industry veteran Stu Sumner to the Universal team as the new vice president of sales for the West Coast region of the United States.

With nearly 20 years of lighting industry experience, Sumner joins the Universal team with extensive sales management experience in various roles. Previously, he served in leadership positions with LSI Industries, Philips Day-Brite, Hubbell Lighting, Cooper Lighting and Osram Sylvania.

“At Universal, one of our biggest strengths is garnering strong relationships with our distributors,” said Joe Damiani, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Panasonic North America’s Lighting Division. “Stu has a real passion and vision for the industry. By adding someone like him to the ULT family, we will continue to build on those key relationships by leading the way in an ever-evolving field.”

In his new role, Sumner will preside over all sales aspects of the West Coast territory. He will develop, facilitate and optimize the sales strategy for Universal’s LED fixtures and comprehensive lighting products. He will provide support to agents, distributors and end users in the region and will report to Damiani. Sumner currently resides in Bend, Oregon, but plans to relocate to the Southern California area to fulfill his new duties on the West Coast.