BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Bethlehem-based startup Soltech Solutions recently won the U.S. Small Business Administration's Eastern Pennsylvania Entrepreneurial Success of the Year Award.
The company aims to help people “bring nature indoors” with its design-inspired plant lights for home and office.
Paul Hodges, Soltech’s Chief Executive Officer, said he founded the company with two others in 2016 shortly after graduating from college.
“We all saw it as the future, knew its potential, and had to at some point, just make an ultimatum: say, hey, look, we gotta go for broke with this. We all got to kind of move in somewhere and just see if this happens,” said Hodges.
After reading a news article that named Bethlehem a top place to start a company, they set up shop in the city in an environment that may be typical for some startups, but not for plants.
“It's hard to believe that in 5 years, we went from that basement to where we are today,” he said.
Soltech Solutions now employs 21 people in Bethlehem, where it designs, assembles, and builds its products.
Adding plant lights to the list of things “Built by Bethlehem.”