Kim Johnson of Smart Buildings Innovator Igor Named to "40 Under 40" Class

A leading trade journal in the lighting industry, LEDs Magazine launched it 40 Under 40 initiative earlier this year to recognize up and coming technology and business leaders in the LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) sectors. Nominees have demonstrated excellence in the pursuit of career development, service to the industry and contributions to their organization’s success.

Johnson is featured in the July/August 2020 issue of LEDs Magazine. 

According to Igor Founder and CTO Dwight Stewart, Johnson was brought into the six-year-old startup firm to expand the company’s focus on intelligent lighting to a broader smart building market strategy. “Kim has successfully combined her passion for sustainability and technology with her experience in consumer products and marketing analytics to create some very effective marketing strategies for Igor,” said Stewart. “She continues to lead a number of initiatives, including product launches, partner marketing, public relations, content marketing, events, digital strategy, sales collaboration and a lot more. We’re lucky to have her on board and are extremely proud of her recognition.”

Johnson’s contributions include a number Igor “firsts” that exceeded initial goals. These include implementing a webinar series; developing Igor University, a formalized system to train partners in the technology; launching a corporate ecosystem program; creating an inbound marketing strategy; implementing cybersecurity training; and rolling out a company-wide CRM tool. She also coordinated the launch of Nexos Intelligent Disinfection this spring to address the reopening of spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. The solution pairs ultraviolet (UV-C) lighting with Internet of Things (IoT) controls to enable widespread, automated disinfection of a range of spaces, from corporate board rooms to surgical suites.  

As part of Igor’s leadership team, Johnson often represents Igor as a speaker at industry events and is in charge of Igor’s events strategy. She facilitated the company’s first localized event and has attended numerous international trade shows on behalf of the company. She also manages various external partnerships, identifying areas of potential savings and synergy to maximize marketing ROI.

She spoke at the 2020 Strategies in Light conference, outlining the value proposition of Power over Ethernet (PoE) as an enabler of smart building systems, and secured two consecutive Sapphire Awards for her company's work in developing PoE LED drivers. 

Johnson is a member of the American Marketing Association, a former member of the Network Executive Women in Chicago, and is a past chairperson of the Wicker Park Lutheran Church Endowment Fund Committee. Her experience also includes consulting, volunteering, and serving as a teaching assistant at the University of Iowa and an assistant language teacher in Japan.

Johnson received her MBA in marketing from Henry B. Tippie School of Management at the University of Iowa and received her bachelor’s degree in government and international affairs from Augustana University.

About Igor

Igor’s flagship product, Nexos, is a PoE-based IoT smart building platform that incorporates hardware, software and cloud analytics to enable smart and secure buildings. Combined with an open API and real-time data, Nexos is a forward-looking technology that seamlessly integrates advanced lighting controls with building systems, low-voltage devices, business applications and more. Now installed in more than 30 countries, Nexos delivers on the global market’s readiness to enter the IoT world. For more information, visit igor-tech.com.