ALA Awards Pillars of the Industry

At the 2026 ALA Conference at La Paloma Resort & Spa in Tucson, three members received recognition for their extraordinary efforts to help further the association’s mission.

This year’s Pillar of the Industry Award recipients were recognized in the areas of Advocacy, Education, and Connection. Selected by the ALA nominating committee, these member companies demonstrated exceptional support in one of ALA’s key areas.

Before ceremony began, ALA President Jon Melchi addressed the audience at the morning breakfast meeting about the association’s focus over the past year.

“You turn on the news and you hear about economic challenges, you hear about political challenges, you hear about the rise of AI,” he said. “At our conference this week, you’re going to hear about all three of those topics. At ALA, we want to be relevant and talk about the issues that are relevant. We want to hear from you what it is that we can do to help your business.”

He continued, “We have had some great successes over the past year. There have been challenges, and we could pretend that these challenges don’t exist in our industry, but I popped into all three of our town hall meetings and I heard first-hand some of those challenges. And at times it may require us, as an industry, to have uncomfortable conversations — but if we do not have those conversations, those challenges are not going to go away.”

Melchi said that he hoped that over the next few days at conference and beyond that members will tell the association what they need. “This is your association and in order to be successful, our members have to lead and tell us how to move in the right direction.”

He delved into greater detail about the three pillars of focus. The first is Advocacy, which refers to working on behalf of members with government entities and industry partners to promote the lighting industry. The second is Business Intelligence & Education. He noted that ALA has a history of providing strong education, but “We added the term ‘business intelligence’ in there because today – and in the future – data is king. Data is king for manufacturers’ representatives, for showrooms and retailers and for manufacturers.” He added, “Our industry needs to do a better job of getting information that is usable, that is agreed upon and that we can share to lead us to better business practices.”

The third area of focus is Connection. “In a world that is AI and where everything is ‘remote,’ we sometimes lose those connections. Events like [the opening reception] last night remind you of why it’s important to be a part of an association.”

This year, he said, the ALA has been fortunate to have member committees that have been highly engaged. “Many of our sessions here at conference were created and driven by our member committees and we’re excited about that.”

The first pillar award was for Connection. Lighting One was chosen because of its commitment to looking for, and improving the lives of its membership as well as for promoting the benefits of ALA “and for serving as a resource for our team,” Melchi said.

In accepting the award, Lighting One President Gregg Garofalo said, “On behalf of the members of Lighting One and Angie Prost [vice president], I am deeply honored to accept this award. It truly belongs to the members of Lighting One, who believe in sharing ideas, helping one another succeed and strengthening the independent lighting channel. I’d like to acknowledge the ALA management team and conference chair Gabriel Trinidad and all the work that goes into this conference. Just as important is all of you who have made the investment to be here — it really shows your commitment to the industry and our future.”

Garofalo added, “My hope is that Lighting One and ALA continue our connection and partnerships. Let’s find new ways to engage members and future leaders, expand educational opportunities, increase participation in our conferences and create events that bring our industry together. If we do that, we won’t just strengthen the two organizations but it will also strengthen the industry.”

The next pillar award was for Education. “If there is one thing this industry can continue to hang its hat on it’s an educated workforce that knows the product and can solve problems for the consumer,” Melchi said.

Ferguson Home was chosen as the recipient because of its commitment to making ALA’s educational programs a priority for its associates and has gotten involved in ALA’s Women in Lighting mentorship program and NexGen Leadership Circle.

Accepting the pillar award in Education was Liana Zimmermaker. “On behalf of Ferguson, it’s an honor to be able to accept this award and we are very thankful to ALA for all of the training and certifications that we are able to provide to our associates. We will continue to lean in with ALA. We are so thankful for everything they’ve been able to give us to educate our associates and provide our customers with the best experience,” she said.

The pillar award for Advocacy went to Hunter Fans. Melchi mentioned that Hunter Fans has been highly involved with working with ALA’s government affairs committee, providing background information and real-life examples. “This company has done a lot of work on behalf of this industry and has contributed a lot of time and resources, sending personnel to Washington to work with Palmer Schoening [ALA’s government affairs consultant] on solving some of these critical issues.

Accepting the Advocacy pillar award was Julia Davis, who works in product design for the company. “On behalf of everyone at Hunter, we thank you. We are truly honored to receive the pillar award for Advocacy. This award may have Hunter’s name on it, but advocacy really is  team effort. So many ALA members contributed their time, expertise and resources to make ALA’s advocacy efforts successful,” she said, adding, “One thing we all know about this industry: regulatory pressures never seem to stop and that makes it all the more important that we continue to work together to ensure a fair and workable regulatory environment that allows all of us to focus on what we do best — running our businesses, innovating and serving our customers. We all know that everyone who supports ALA’s advocacy efforts [does so] above and beyond their regular responsibilities so thank you to everyone who contributes their time and expertise.”

In Hunter’s acceptance speech, Davis thanked Melchi and Palmer Schoening for their efforts in government affairs and also thanked Tom Catania, Esq., consultant and counsel to Hunter Fan Company.