It’s reported that Ruud Lighting’s new LED streetlights on 92nd St. near Highway 20 in Sturtevant can be powered down to save energy during the overnight hours. Now their wireless lighting-control system flickered to life. A split second after a technician inside Ruud Lighting's warehouse typed a command into his laptop, streetlights along 92nd St. outside blinked off, then back on.

Ruud Lighting has laid off about 50 of its nearly 600 employees. Company President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Ruud says the collapse of the construction industry forced the actions. He says the company is restructuring and the layoffs are considered permanent. The privately owned Ruud Lighting, 9201 Highway 20, makes lighting fixtures for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential settings. The dearth of construction work during the recession has sapped sales, Ruud says.