Our Story

It Began with Ballasts…

Keystone Technologies was founded more than 75 years ago by Marvin Spielman and Harold Fox, brothers-in-law returning home from World War II. Fluorescent lighting was just becoming a popular, energy-efficient alternative to incandescent, so the two budding entrepreneurs formed Keystone at A and Cortlandt Streets in Philadelphia with a singular focus on manufacturing ballasts and transformers. At the time, several of the lighting industry’s key fixture manufacturers called Philadelphia home: Keystone Lighting, Simkar, Crescent Lighting, Progress Lighting, and Sea Gull Lighting. Keystone quickly became a strategic supplier for their ballast and transformer needs.

And Evolved to Drivers…

With the advent of LED technology, we expanded our product offer beyond ballasts to include LED drivers. This was a natural transition for the company as drivers are similar in role and design to ballasts. Keystone was able to apply years of expertise in ballast manufacturing to quickly develop high quality drivers for a wide variety of applications.

And then to LED Modules and Light Engines…

Keystone’s business grew significantly along with the demand for LED drivers. It was not a big leap to start producing our own modules and Light Engines, which gave us the ability to customize complete LED systems to meet individual customer demands. Keystone has become a primary supplier for a variety of OEM accounts, who have diverse needs and product requirements.

LED Boards lead to LED Tubes

It wasn’t too long before a Keystone engineer slipped an LED board into a tube and Keystone’s LED lamp business was born. Keystone saw immediate success with both SmartDrive (plug & play) and DirectDrive (ballast bypass) technologies. We have established ourselves as a leading resource for an ever-growing list of LED lamp types including linear, compact and HID. LED products represent the fastest growing segment of our business and we are striving each day to bring you the latest in LED lamp technology.

What’s Next?

Now in our third generation of family leadership, Keystone is focused on the future, and continues to evolve with the changing demands of the lighting business. As our company experiences unprecedented growth, we pursue a path of leadership and quality, and remain committed to the legacy of truly personal service established when Marvin and Harold made their first sale in 1945.


Meet the Team

Ira Greenberg - CEO

Ira Greenberg

CEO

Fred Greenberg - CFO & President

Fred Greenberg

President

Jake Alpert - VP of Operations

Jake Alpert

COO

Josh Brown - VP Distributor Channel

Josh Brown

VP Sales – Distribution Channel

Andy Joseph - VP OEM Sales

Andrew Joseph

VP Sales – OEM Channel

Company Timeline

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1945

Keystone Transformer Co. Founded

Harold Fox and Marvin Spielman establish Keystone at A and Cortlandt Streets in Philadelphia. They focus on two things: becoming experts at manufacturing ballasts and transformers and providing outstanding service to their customers.

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1945

Original Logo

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1953

Expansion of product line

Keystone expands their product offering to service appliance manufacturers with lighting transformers for inside appliance backsplashes.

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1962

Pennsburg, PA

Pennsburg, PA factory opens, focusing on ballast manufacturing and assembly.

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1975

Fred Greenberg joins Keystone

The 2nd generation of family ownership enters the company.

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1984

Trumbauersville, PA

Trumbauersville, PA factory opens specializing in metal stamping for ballast assembly.

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1996

Enters Electronic Ballast market

Keystone introduces first line of electronic fluorescent ballasts.

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2001

Begins producing fixtures

Keystone begins manufacturing fully assembled fixtures under private labels for national fixture brands.

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2001

Ira Greenberg joins Keystone

The 3rd generation of family ownership enters the company.

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2002

Enters wholesale market

Keystone aims to expand by entering the electrical wholesale market.

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2003

Keystone expands catalog

Keystone’s product category expands beyond fluorescent ballasts into high intensity discharge (HID) ballasts.

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2003

Keystone enters Mexico

Keystone opens their first distribution center outside of the USA in Monterrey, Mexico.

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2004

A step towards Light Made Easy

Beginning our commitment to Light Made Easy, the first stocking sales agency is opened in Atlanta, GA to facilitate quicker order fulfillment.

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2005

End of an era

Keystone ships high powered T12 magnetic ballasts to fixture manufacturers for the last time, ushering in the transition to energy efficient electronic ballasts.

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2007

Keystone enters LED driver market

Keystone leverages their reputation of manufacturing reliable power supplies and begins mass producing LED drivers.

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2007

Stocking agency growth

The 10th stocking sales agency is opened, continuing our commitment to Light Made Easy.

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2008

Hard at work

Power supply production output reaches 1 million units per month.

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2010

Keystone launches sensor options

Keystone adds photocell and high bay sensors to product offerings.

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2012

Introduces the LED tube

Keystone produces the first prototype of an LED tube, initiating the entrance into the LED tube market.

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2012

Launches FutureFit Kits

Keystone’s line of easy to install LED retrofit kits is added to the product catalog.

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2013

Keystone moves

Keystone expands to the new Progress Drive location in Montgomeryville, PA.

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2015

Raising the bar

Keystone sets the standard for shatterproof glass tubes, meeting all safety regulations for food service applications while offering exceptional performance and efficiency.

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2015

Keystone lights up Times Square

One of the largest signs in the world is powered by Keystone’s sign ballasts.

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2016

Expands product offering

Keystone introduces HID replacement LED lamps.

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2016

United Nations

The United Nations chooses Keystone LED tubes for a massive lighting upgrade at their Headquarters. Read the Case Study.

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2016

Rapidly growing

Keystone expands operations by moving to a larger, more updated headquarters and distribution center in North Wales, PA.

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2016

Geno’s Steaks

The iconic South Philadelphia cheesesteaks establishment chooses to retrofit their lighting with Keystone LED tubes. Read the case study.

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2017

Expansion of LED tubes

Keystone offers the widest assortment of LED tubes in the market to provide a solution for virtually every job.

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2018

Delivering on Light Made Easy

With 21 distribution centers across the nation, Keystone can facilitate exceptionally fast delivery to every point in the USA.

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2018

Introducing Sign Hero

Keystone unveils the revolutionary Sign Hero LED sign tube.

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2018

Unveiling the XFit line

Continuing the diversification of our product catalog, Keystone launches the XFit line of quality constructed LED fixtures. Keystone unveils the revolutionary Sign Hero LED sign tube.

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2019

Joining IMARK

Keystone joins the IMARK group to support independent electrical wholesalers by offering our comprehensive line of premium and innovative products to its members.

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2019

Launches Marketing Resource Center

Keystone provides easy-to-use marketing collateral templates to distribution customers.

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2019

State-of-the-art

To facilitate the rapid growth of the company, Keystone moves into a state-of-the-art location, previously part of the Ford Motor Co, in Lansdale, PA.