Company changes leaders, hopes to survive

The turnaround plan at Sunovia Energy Technologies, which is also its survival strategy, is in flux with news that the architect of the approach was let go.

A publicly traded Sarasota-based LED lighting firm, Sunovia announced Jan. 23 that Art Buckland, CEO since August 2010, was no longer with the firm. Erich Hofer, a Sunovia board member who has held executive positions in the energy and technology industries in the U.S. and Switzerland, replaced Buckland on an interim basis.

Company officials, including cofounder Craig Hall, an adviser to the firm, didn't return calls or emails seeking comment.

But last summer the firm commented extensively on its survival plan. The effort was daunting, considering Sunovia had spent four years in an unsuccessful attempt to get into the solar industry. That move ultimately led to $70 million in losses, in addition to a going concern filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that stated the firm needed capital to survive. (See Business Review, Sept. 15, 2011.)

The strategy was to turn the focus from solar to light emitting diodes, LEDs. The firm, through Buckland's leadership, hoped to receive nearly $7 million in federal and state grants to build an automated LED factory in Sarasota. The core product would be Sunovia's patent-pending cobra head LED lights that the firm says reduce energy and last three times longer than traditional lights.

That survival endeavor, or potentially yet another plan, now moves to Hofer. Sunovia also says it hired a consulting firm with experience in the lighting industry to help it find new opportunities.