When you see Downtown Valparaiso shine throughout the winter, know that dazzle came from Landscape Illumination.
“We are very proud to team with the City to light up downtown Valpo,” said Darrin Selking, founder and president of Landscape Illumination - a Valparaiso-based lighting design company. "We have provided all of the holiday lights for the past five years."
Ever since creating the company in 2000, Selking’s approach has always been of innovation and getting ahead of the game.
The best example of that may just be Landscape Illumination’s use of light emitting diode (LED), which he says has been in use for more than five years now.
“LED is a technology that came out about six years ago and is now being used pretty strong in the landscape field,” Selking said. “We picked up on it right away and started using it. We took an early lead.”
Prior to the use of LED lighting, using halogen had been commonplace. Selking says that advantages of the newer form of lighting include being “maintenance free” as well as using 75 percent less power than halogen.
“It costs a little more money up front, but the return on investment is about three years,” Selking said.
The early use of LED lighting as well as their “every job is different” approach has led to Landscape Illumination being named the Kilcher Contractor of the Year twice - once in 2008 and again in 2012. The Kilcher award is a distinction that covers all of North America. According to Selking, thousands of companies are eligible for the award each year, and Landscape Illumination is the only one who has won it twice.
“It is quite an honor,” he said.
Selking's company has proven to be the leader in lighting and design over the past decade in Valparaiso. The convenience and stability they provide makes them the logical choice for any holiday or landscape lighting project.
“Our product is commercial grade, it will hold up,” he said. “You don’t have to bother storing it. We allow people to achieve their dreams in holiday lighting without having to get on the ladder.”
Selking’s passion when it comes to lighting cannot be underestimated either. Prior to creating Landscape Illumination, Selking was the superintendent of a pair of Country Clubs in Long Beach, Indiana and New Buffalo, Michigan. But after working in lighting design on the side for a year, he decided to leave his job at the Golf Course and move on to this full-time.
“(I am) way more passionate about this (lighting),” he said. “I love it this time of the year – we do a lot of holiday lighting from mid-October to mid-December. We then go right back into landscape lighting.”
With two sons involved with swimming in the Chesterton School system, Selking also serves the community as a USA Swimming official, having done so for about a year.
“I do that when we aren’t super busy,” Selking said, noting that January and February (swimming months) are usually a time for a drop in the lighting business.
With offices in Valparaiso, Selking (originally from Northeast Indiana) says he has no intention of taking his top-notch lighting business elsewhere.
“We are in it for the long haul,” he said. “We have a good-size building and would like to remain in Valparaiso for a long time.”