MEMBER PROFILE - Thayer Energy Solutions

CASTING A LIGHT ON SUCCESS:

Thayer Energy Solutions

By Paul Anthony Arco

When Patti Thayer began her working career, she never pictured running her own company. Now, she can’t imagine doing anything else.

Thayer is president and owner of Thayer Energy Solutions (TES), a company that specializes in retrofitting commercial lighting systems, inside and out, to increase energy efficiency and decrease the cost of operations. “The keys to our success are service, longevity and reputation,” she said.

Formerly known as Thayer Lighting, TES has clients in several industries — shopping malls, auto dealerships, hospitals, schools, municipalities. An average project is 10,000 to 50,000 square feet and their largest project was 1.3 million square feet. Thayer estimates her company has retrofitted more than 100 million square feet of space and has grown five-fold over the past few years.

“We don’t do a cookie cutter job,” she said. “We have the experience of coming into a facility and taking care of the customer’s needs when it comes to optimal lighting.”

The company was started by Thayer’s late husband, Tom, in 1987. Thayer, who has a diverse background in sales, training, and payroll, met Tom at a political function when she worked in membership sales for the Rockford Chamber of Commerce. The next day she signed Tom up for a chamber membership. “Six months later we were married,” she said.

Thayer soon went to work for her husband and totally immersed herself into the business. She studied, researched and attended conferences and trainings. Tom eventually retired and Thayer took over in 2008. “I grew to love the company and the relationships with our customers,” she said. Tom died in 2019.

TES has completed projects for the City of Freeport, Rock River Ford, Benson Stone and Anderson Auto Group, among others. Earlier this year, TES completed a comprehensive lighting project for Midwest Packaging & Container, replacing every light fixture both inside and outside the facility. Company president Rob Young says he appreciated TES’s professionalism and flexibility of working around Midwest’s machine schedule during the process.

“Improving our lighting and saving on energy have been two priorities for us,” he said. “The plant looks great, and we’ve saved quite a bit of money on our energy bill. We love showing off our facility and providing a safe and productive environment for our 150 employees.”

TES has seven full-time employees, along with several independent contractors who handle marketing and sales. Thayer calls her team the backbone of the company. “I consider all of them a part of my family. They are an integral part of who we are as a business.”

These days, TES is riding the wave of the sweeping changes in lighting technology. For example, LED has fundamentally changed the future of lighting. Three years ago, nearly half of all lighting sources were LED and that number is expected to grow to 87% by 2030. “Technology has evolved so much,” Thayer said. “We have much better control of lighting output. We used to deal with wires in the walls and now you can go remotely. It’s an exciting time to be in the business.”

And 2022 promises to be another eventful year. One of the most exciting projects is the company’s role in installing electrical vehicle chargers (EVCS) for auto dealerships in the Rockford and Crystal Lake areas as well as for manufacturers, municipalities and for residents. “This is the perfect direction for our company,” said Thayer. “We’ve come a long way when it comes to technology, and we recognize the importance of service.”

For Thayer, it’s all about making the customers happy: “When the kind words come back to me, I know we did the job the right way,” she said. “That’s my greatest satisfaction.”

THAYER ENERGY SOLUTIONS - Owner and President: Patti Thayer 959 Industrial Ct. Loves Park thayerenergysolutions.com