After 35-Year Career, President Brad Penney Retires From Streamlight® As Streamlight marks its 32nd SHOT Show, the company is honoring the career of its former President and CEO Brad Penney, who retired on December 31. Under Penney's direction, Streamlight grew from a small operation that marketed a single lighting product to law enforcement agencies to a world class manufacturer of high-performance lighting equipment. Penney was replaced by former Chief Operating Officer Ray Sharrah, who was named President and CEO/COO effective January 1, 2010. Penney will remain as a consultant to the company's executives, sales and marketing VP and the international division, and will continue to provide support at major tradeshows where Streamlight exhibits, such as IWA, SHOT, FDIC, Interschutz and AAPEX. A former private security officer and police academy graduate, Penney joined Streamlight in 1975 as a salesman, one of only seven employees. At the time, the company's product line consisted of a single product, a million candle power hand-held light derived from technology that had been developed earlier for NASA. He briefly served as Production Manager and Vice President of Production. He was named Streamlight's President in May, 1977. Penney then proceeded to expand the company's research, engineering and product development functions, moving the company's headquarters and production facilities to Norristown, PA in 1977 to accommodate the growing company. Lighting tools for the fire agency market such as the LiteBox® lantern and the Survivor® right-angle flashlight were introduced, as well as a variety of miniature lights such as the KeyMate®. The company acquired a California production facility in the early 1980s which resulted in the addition of a family of non-rechargeable machined aluminum lights to the product line. In late 1995, the SL-20® rechargeable halogen flashlight was introduced and became the standard for law enforcement for the next ten years. And in 1994, the company introduced the first of its signature Stinger® flashlights, which have since become standard duty lights for law enforcement agencies everywhere. Meanwhile, the company also expanded its market focus to include sporting goods, tactical and military, industrial, automotive and consumer markets. Streamlight's steady growth and continually expanding product line led Penney to move the company in 2001 to its current headquarters in Eagleville, PA. In 2008, an additional 75,000 square feet in space was added in response to growing demand for company products. Today, the company's total plant size is 165,000 square feet. Through it all, Penney has witnessed major shifts in the industry which have yielded continuing advances in flashlight brightness, size and functionality, including the first rechargeable halogen lamp flashlight, introduced by Streamlight in 1975; the ongoing evolution from incandescent to LED lights, and the growing popularity of rechargeable flashlights as an alternative to standard battery-powered lights. In addition to the Stinger, he is particularly proud of products like the TLR-1® and TLR-2® – the first aluminum-bodied gun mount lights – and the Sidewinder®, the most versatile military light in the world, and the first to become standard issue for the Marine Corps. "Streamlight continues to have the broadest array of product available, which we think is critically important to our customer base, because it affords them ‘one-stop' shopping for lighting tools, whether for professional or personal use," said Penney. He also credits Streamlight's distribution for the company's continuing success, noting that some dealers and distributors have worked with the company for more than 25 years. "Many of them will order product from us sight unseen because they trust the quality of our lights," said Penney. The combination of our product quality and our solid relationship with our distribution has been a big key to our success." Penney remains bullish on the industry which he describes as still a growth business, because of continuing improvements in technology. "It's been a great run, during which time Streamlight has prospered and grown into a significant player in the handheld light industry throughout the world," Penney said. "I leave my position knowing that Streamlight is in very good hands from the top to the bottom."