Invent an Industry. Start a business around something you love.

David Milly helped to invent an industry.

Huntsville, Alabama: Every person who has ever dreamed of starting a business wants to know, "How do you get there?" And the answer truly is, "One step at a time."

This is the story of Theatrical Lighting Systems (TLS) and Janet and David Milly.  They will show you how slowly adding value, one day at a time, is how each of us has built a business. Some people get lucky and their formulas click. Some of us are lucky that we get in on the ground floor of a new business revolution.

When David was a student at University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH), he earned money booking entertainment and dances for his school. From his first booking, Earl Scruggs Review, a country-bluegrass band (of Deliverance fame), he knew this was what he wanted to do.

But besides the fiddlers, David also booked the lighting package for the show. He engaged Luna Tech, a sole proprietor, and they struck up a friendship. By the time he graduated they had a partnership and then they formed a corporation (1975) to protect themselves from the liability involved with manufacturing and creating pyrotechnic special effects. David was initially a 25% stockholder in the business, yet by 1981 he negotiated a buyout of just the lighting division to go out on his own.

That's a story, but this one just gets better.

At that time there was no trade association for the lighting industry. In 1987 a few of the fellows started one, Theatrical Dealers Association, and David was quick to join and serve on the board. He initiated a Small Business Development Committee. Today this national association is known as ESTA or the Entertainment Services and Technology Association. 

David has also been an active member of the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau for three decades. In this episode of the show you will meet all kinds of people who love Huntsville, who love Janet and David Milly, and love the stuff of making their community a great place to live.

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