LAS VEGAS — A 49-year “fixture” in the lighting and audio industries, Vincent “Vinny” Finnegan recently celebrated his official retirement at October’s LDI Show in Las Vegas.
Finnegan’s initial foray into the production technology business began in 1969 when he joined Revox Corporation as one of the tape recorder manufacturer’s first employees at its new U.S. office in Long Island. Two years later, Revox purchased half of Meteor and began to export lighting—and eventually audio—products into America and tasked him with the brand’s distribution. Then, in 1981, Finnegan moved on to Litelab (of Saturday Night Fever dance floor fame) where he served as the national sales manager before rejoining Meteor in 1984.
On Aug. 1, 1988, he went to work for Group One Limited’s Jack Kelly. (The two had met in 1975 during their shared time at Revox.) Kelly was then heading up distribution for Klark-Teknik and Celco in the U.S. Since then, Finnegan has spent three decades with Group One overseeing domestic sales of the distributor’s lighting brands, which currently includes elektraLite, Avolites and Pulsar. In his longstanding role with the company as vice president of lighting, he has additionally worked with Claypaky, Optikinetics/Trilite and LightProcessor, among other well-known product lines.
“I realize that the term ‘family’ can be a bit cliché, but that’s exactly what Vinny is,” said Group One President Jack Kelly. “In an era where spending five years, or less, with a company is considered the norm, his 30-year tenure with us is nothing short of remarkable. Vinny has been an absolutely integral part of our long-term success, and we wish him the very best on a well-deserved break.”
Although Finnegan has formally retired from Group One’s day-to-day activities, he pointed out that he will continue to serve in a consulting role making “special deals” for the distributor’s lighting brands.
“After all, we all know that no one ever really leaves the lighting industry,” Finnegan laughed. “Sure, you might get separated, but you don’t totally walk away from it. It’s always going to be a part of you.”
