SYRACUSE — Go Green Supply CNY, a distributor of LED (light-emitting diode) lighting products, has started operations at 1433 Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse.

Rochester–based Go Green LED International announced the launch of Go Green Supply CNY in a news release in early April.

The Syracuse location is a “separate entity” from the Rochester company, says Rolando (R.J.) Cruz, Jr., president and co-owner of Go Green Supply CNY.

“So basically, we are a distributor of [the] products that they sell … We’re just a separate company,” he adds. He spoke with CNYBJ on May 25.

Cruz is one of four company owners and the majority shareholder, he says. Cruz declined to name his three business partners, but did indicate that they work for Henderson-Johnson Co., Inc. of Syracuse.

Go Green Supply CNY launched on Aug. 8, 2016, and is now operating in a 1,500-square-foot space that it opened May 1.

The company leases the space from the Henderson-Johnson firm.

Cruz is currently the company’s lone employee, but he hopes to add one or two additional employees in the next six to 12 months.

Go Green Supply CNY has applied for certification as a minority and women-owned business enterprise in New York to “give us some access to and availability to provide a product and service to state contracts to other state facilities,” says Cruz.

The company is selling LED lighting products, lamps, and retrofit fixtures, he says.

He declined to name specific clients but said he sells to “a couple health-care clients,” along with electricians, automotive stores, and building owners.

The building owners he sells to have bought their structures in recent years and are renovating them, “so they’re looking to upgrade and go green and save money on their utility bills,” says Cruz.

Go Green Supply CNY is servicing clients in the Syracuse market and areas to the north, east, and south, while Go Green LED International pursues clients in the Rochester region and areas to the west, according to Cruz.

He contends clients could “decrease their lighting costs by minimally 25 to 50 percent.”

“We’re trying to make a brighter day … for our clients,” Cruz quipped.

“The new location is expected to provide clean-energy solutions that results in 50 percent to 100 percent energy savings to our customer base. At the same time we reduce the carbon footprint of our clients and help them meet environmental goals,” Michael Viggiani, president of Go Green LED International, said in the news release. “The opening of a Syracuse branch will improve our reach and service capabilities to central New York customers.”

Pursuing the business
Cruz and his business partners “a couple years ago” decided to pursue a business in the LED lighting market, one that Cruz considers “very promising.”

They developed the business plan, and launched the firm in 2016.

Cruz in late 2014 left his position as controller at Auburn Community Hospital, seeing it as “an opportunity to create” his own business.

One of his business partners was familiar with Go Green LED International and the LED lighting market, and the partners saw the product as a “very good opportunity” to attract commercial customers.

“Now, you’re looking at an accountant in the lighting industry who can count the lightbulbs as well as screw them in,” Cruz said with a laugh.

His partners have been involved with Henderson-Johnson for more than 25 years each, he noted.

Cruz, an Auburn native, is a 1991 graduate of Le Moyne College with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He also earned an associate degree in business administration from Cayuga Community College in 1989, he says.