Cooper Lighting, a division of Cooper Industries plc (NYSE: CBE), announced that Jim McCarthy, Senior Marketing Specialist, has been awarded a 2009 Pillar of the Industry award from the American Lighting Association (ALA). Established in 2000, the ALA Pillar of the Industry award recognizes exceptional contributions that have advanced the programs and interests of the lighting industry and the ALA over the past 12 to 18 months. McCarthy was presented with the award at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference held last month at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palo Verdes, California.

With more than 39 years in the lighting industry, McCarthy has a wide range of exposure to many different facets of the lighting industry. He worked 29 years for an electric supply company gaining experience in electrical distribution, retail sales and purchasing, and has spent the last nine years with Cooper Lighting as an educator at The SOURCE, the company’s premier education center.

“Jim brings so much knowledge to the committees he serves on,” says Nici Juneau, Director of Education for ALA. “He is always willing to answer any technical questions I get from members, the lighting industry and, certainly, the ALA benefits greatly from his involvement.”

McCarthy is a member of ALA’s Certification Committee and the Education Committee and is actively involved in the development of new ALA programs. He has served as a CLC exam grader since 2002 and a seminar instructor since 2007. His work on the ALA Editing Task Force helped make both the revised ALA Residential Lighting Training Manual in 2006 and the Certificate Specialist program in 2008 a reality.

As a SOURCE Senior Marketing Specialist, Jim is part of a team that provides the highest level of professional lighting education in the industry teaching such courses as Lighting Fundamentals, Residential Lighting Design, Retail Lighting Design, Healthcare Lighting Workshop, and the Energy Solutions Workshop, among others. Located at Cooper Lighting's headquarters in Peachtree City, Georgia, the SOURCE is a 35,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility featuring application vignettes designed with the latest technologies allowing professionals and students to visually and physically grasp lighting design concepts, techniques and installations to broaden their understanding of lighting and its applications. The SOURCE has been servicing the lighting industry for over eighteen years and to date, over 120,000 lighting and interior designers, architects, utilities, facility managers, retail planners, electrical contractors, energy-saving companies, engineers, distributors, builders, landscape architects, university students and end-users have benefited from the SOURCE experience.  The SOURCE staff also hosts several courses at Cooper Industries' Houston-based Cooper Technology Center.

In addition to receiving the certification of CLC (Certified Lighting Consultant) from the American Lighting Association, McCarthy has earned his LC (Lighting Certified) certification from the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP) and is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA).

The Pillar of the Industry award is presented to representatives from one or more of three member categories: manufacturer, showroom and manufacturer's representative.  For more information, visit www.americanlightingassoc.com.