The National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors has announced that it will keep the memory of the late Paul Hafner alive with a memorial scholarship.
Hafner, who passed away in July, was known as a thought leader who launched NAILD’s Lighting Specialist training programs.
NAILD is now accepting scholarship donations, which will fund the lighting education of the first three recipients in 2019. One recipient will receive a The Transition of Legacy Sources to LED (LS-I) course, another will receive a Lighting Specialist II (LS-II) course and a third will receive a Lighting Specialist-Controls (LS-C) course. The application deadline is March 1, 2019. Recipients will be notified by April 1. (LS-1 completion is a prerequisite for LS-II and LS-C.) To apply for a scholarship, click here.
“Paul was inspiring,” says Cory Schneider, NAILD President and CEO of Lighting Unlimited. “Any question you had on lighting, Paul had a story that would make you think. Most educators have never been in the field, but Paul was a field guy who became an educator. He was passionate and made it his life’s work until he died in July 2018.”
“Paul would never want to deny someone opportunity to learn because they didn’t have the funds,” Schneider continues. “We created this scholarship to honor his legacy. The more donations we receive, the more scholarships we can award each year.”
Hafner worked in the lighting industry for nearly 30 years. He created NAILD’s The Transition of Legacy Sources to LED (LS-I) and Lighting Specialist II (LS-II). LS-I helps lighting sales employees better understand how and when customers should retrofit their facilities from incandescent and compact fluorescent light technologies to solid-state lighting. LS-II takes that training one step further, focusing on retail, industrial, office and educational facilities. Both courses are a combination of expert technical instruction and hands-on field experience delivered through online courses that Hafner narrates.
NAILD also offers the Lighting Specialist- Controls (LS-C) training developed by Craig DiLouie. Energy codes are driving adoption of automatic lighting controls in new commercial buildings, while technology, utility rebates and growth in LED upgrades have increased demand for controls in existing buildings. Customers are looking for experts who can tell them what to do and select products.
To donate to the Paul Hafner Memorial Scholarship Fund, send a check to NAILD, 191 Clarksville Road, Princeton Junction, N.J. 08550, Attn: Greta Cuyler.
Years of Innovation
NAILD is committed to innovation and education in the lighting industry, as evidenced by its educational programs that provide knowledge that manufacturers and distributors need to take their businesses to the next level.
Its annual conference, NAILD Innovation, offers members the opportunity to gather and learn from industry experts and from each other. A networking series, Organized Casual Conferences, allows vendors and distributors to schedule one-on-one meetings to facilitate lasting partnerships. NAILD Innovation 2019 will be held April 15-18, 2019, at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nev.
Today’s Lighting Distributor magazine provides members the materials they need to stay on the cutting edge of the industry through educational and technical articles, case studies, member profiles and industry news. A Light Read is a weekly email publication that resonates with millennials and young professionals and provides a roundup of the latest news affecting the lighting industry.