Hughey & Phillips LLC has always been about lights. When the company opened in the 1930s, it provided the lighting used at airports and for railroads. Today, it specializes in obstruction lighting and control solutions with 50 percent of its business in telecom towers and broadcast. The purchase of TowerSentry, a long-time tower light-monitoring company, in December of 2014, gives Hughey & Phillips complete coverage for all aspects of obstruction lighting. Steve Schneider is the CEO and owner of Hughey & Phillips, and Brian Roth is the manager of TowerSentry.
Obstruction lighting in the United States is required by the Federal Aviation Administration for anything taller than 200 feet, including towers. Hughey & Phillips provides the appropriate lighting system, controls, tech support and maintenance. They also have replacement equipment, such as light bulbs or flash tubes, that are part of the obstruction lighting.
TowerSentry monitors all the company’s obstruction lighting 24 hours a day. The monitoring includes anything that could go wrong. It makes sure the power is on and working, each light is on, all doors are closed and not ajar or open. If there is a problem with the power or a light for 30 minutes, the FAA requires the monitoring team to put out a NOTAM (notice to airmen) to pilots in the area so they are aware that lights may be out on a tower.
Jim Sullivan, vice president of sales and marketing for Hughey & Phillips, said the company has more than a million systems around the world. TowerSentry is specific to the United States because other countries don’t have the same stringent requirements as the US. But Sullivan said the company does plan to go international, and sooner rather than later.
Headquartered in Urbana, Ohio, Hughey & Phillips has more than 100 employees.
Menu
Menu
