(From the office of Chris Coons)
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons recently visited New Castle’s WhiteOptics, LLC. The start up company develops and manufactures materials used to improve the lighting quality and energy efficiency of LED and fluorescent lighting products.
WhiteOptics’ materials, developed and assembled at their Quigley Boulevard facility, are used by leading LED manufacturers, including GE and Cree. During the visit, Coons had the opportunity to meet with employees and try his hand at some of the work performed at the facility.
“In a few short years, WhiteOptics has developed a cutting edge, highly efficient lighting product here in Delaware that’s being sold across the United States and to markets around the world,” Coons said. “Meeting with the team behind this innovative startup is a reminder of just how inventive, creative, determined, and capable American manufacturers are.”
Eric Teather, WhiteOptics’ founder and CEO, discussed some of the challenges his startup faces as it seeks to grow and create new jobs in Delaware. As an early-stage company, intellectual property protection – including protection of the trade secrets the company uses to manufacture its products – is a chief concern.
“For a small startup business, being able to act on your own, through your own attorney, promptly, is going to make a lifesaving difference,” Coons said. “When the NSA, and the FBI, and the Department of Justice are saying that American manufacturers are the subject of intentional, directed cyber-hacking designed to steal trade secrets every day, we ought to be doing more to strengthen the legal protections available to them.”
