Greg Rhoades
Marketing Director, Leviton Security & Automation
“Alexa, turn off the lights!”
Smart electronics are taking over the way homes and businesses function, and Greg Rhoades couldn’t be happier. Rhoades is the marketing director for Leviton, a global electronics manufacturer with a thriving security and automation business unit based in New Orleans.
Leviton came to town in 2012, when the company acquired New Orleans-based Home Automation, Inc. (HAI). Rhoades’ own New Orleans history was a bit longer – he arrived in 2002 to study at Loyola and worked as a concert photographer and social media developer before joining HAI, where he helped build the company’s brand. When Leviton acquired HAI, says Rhoades, “it was really with the intent of leveraging the talent and the creativity that was down here in the Silicon Swamp… they use our talent for all of their apps and cloud development.”
Leviton’s approximately 40 local employees have been based in New Orleans East, but the company is relocating to the Warehouse District this fall, where they plan to create an engineering and marketing facility. Leviton chose that area because of its proximity to the company’s three-year-old ‘experience center’ in the CBD, where the company can show customers their products in ‘real’ working environments.
No longer limited to the ultra-wealthy, the market for Leviton’s smart products continues to grow as price points drop and the company partners with companies like Samsung, Google and Apple to launch new products. By offering products like smart light switches for as little as $50, says Rhoades, “we’re trying to make every house a smart home.”
