Hubbell Entertainment is made up of a cast of familiar industry figures, beginning with COO Teddy Van Bemmel, formerly of Vanco, and CEO Harvey Hazelwood, formerly of Martin Professional's US office. Speaking of the startup, Van Bemmel says, “It was a brainstorm that Harvey and I had. We decided to make a pitch to a large company-which was Hubbell. They liked it so much that they funded the operation as a joint venture.” After the development of the first Helux product, Hubbell Entertainment was formed as a division of Hubbell.
What makes Hubbell Entertainment unique, says Van Bemmel, is this: “We decided to bring the mindset of a professional company like Hubbell, with its reputation for quality, engineering, and service, to what is still a cottage industry,” meaning the entertainment lighting business. In addition, he says, in developing the Helux line, “we started with a price point,” then dealt with issues of light output and reliability. There are two keys to making the units less expensive, he adds: They have 40% fewer parts than other comparable lights, and, among the Helux units, 75% of their parts are common, which allows for easy repair and maintenance. He credits Woody Smith and Bill Hewlett, of the company's engineering department, for coming up with these innovations.
The Helux line will ship sometime in the first quarter, Van Bemmel says, adding “We're utilizing the Hubbell rep network and we're in the process of building our own dealer and service network.” Richard Cadena, formerly of both High End Systems and Martin Professional, has signed on as head of national sales. Also joining the team are Guillermo Cabada, West Coast operations and sales, and Perry Cooley, technical services manager.
Van Bemmel also cites his and his staff's longtime industry experience. “We have our own business plan, which we feel is unique,” he says. “We're not going to sell what salesman or engineers want, but what our customers want. It's a little bit old-fashioned, but Hubbell is a tried and true company that has earned its stripes by making quality products.”
Hubbell Entertainment's engineering and executive offices are located at 1093 Shotgun Road, Sunrise, FL 33326, phone: 954-424-9722, fax: 954-424-8288, web: www.hubbellentertainment.com.