Manufacturers' Representative membership with the American Lighting Association is open to any agency or direct factory salesperson that sells lighting products.

The association lobbies hard for members on lighting and business issues. We have created alliances to make certain energy-efficiency regulations are practical for members while still reducing energy use; and we are fighting for harmonization so that the lighting industry is not forced to produce special products to meet state or provincial laws.

We also offer reps these programs and benefits:

• Education and Certification. The ALA is waiving the $80 application fee for the Certified Lighting Manufacturers' Representative (CLMR) program to encourage members to earn their certification and increase their lighting knowledge and rep training. As a part of our education and training programs, Webinar courses are time efficient, convenient and low cost opportunities to help reps earn CLMR hours on business issues and the latest lighting applications, technologies and trends.

• Top-Notch Free Marketing Tools and Sales Leads. To help stimulate business, the ALA BiNational PR and Advertising program is producing advertising and PR materials as well as a new quarterly consumer e-newsletter that your showroom clients can send to their customers. The new ALA turnkey “lead generation program” provides consumer contact information to your showroom client within 24 hours of their calling the ALA helpline.

• Lighting Magazine. Produced by the ALA and Better Homes and Gardens, Lighting is the only lighting-exclusive consumer publication in North America and features product information from ALA member manufacturers.

• Technology Updates. The ALA’s engineering resources allow us to effectively interface with business and government on lighting technology advances, keeping our members on top of changing technologies and requirements.

• Internet Exposure. The ALA online manufacturers’ representative locator service allows manufacturers to search for reps by state.