Leviton Manufacturing Company, Inc. is an American manufacturer of electrical wiring equipment in North America. The company produces electrical outlets and Light switches, as well as

GFCI A residual-current device (RCD), residual-current circuit breaker (RCCB) or ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) is an electrical safety device, more specifically a form of Earth-leakage circuit breaker, that interrupts an Electrical Circuit, ...

and USB charging devices, network infrastructure,

lighting control system A lighting control system is intelligent network-based lighting control that incorporates communication between various system inputs and outputs related to lighting control with the use of one or more central computing devices. Lighting control ...

s, load centers and

circuit breaker A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an Electrical network, electrical circuit from damage caused by current in excess of that which the equipment can safely carry (overcurrent). Its basic function is to interr ...

s, EV charging stations, and

utility submeter Utility sub-metering is a system that allows a landlord, property management firm, condominium association, homeowners association, or other multi-tenant property to bill tenants for individual measured utility usage. The approach makes use of in ...

ing.Anonymous. Energy & Power Management. Troy: Jun 2005.Vol.30, Iss. 6; pp. 29–35.

History

Leviton Level 2 Electric Vehicle Charging Station

Leviton was founded in 1906 by

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

immigrants Evser Leviton and his son Isidor Leviton when they began manufacturing brass mantle tips for natural gas lights in Manhattan's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. In 1910, Isidor designed a screw-in lampholder for the newly invented electric light bulb and within ten years the lampholders were installed in apartment buildings across Manhattan. In 1916, Leviton moved its headquarters to

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

, and in 1922 Leviton moved to

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway and East ...

. The company first began manufacturing wall outlets and switches in the 1920s. In 1936, Leviton built a new manufacturing plant in Greenpoint that allowed the company to begin making

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s. In 1937, Leviton acquired wire and cable manufacturer American Insulated Wire, which it operated until 2010, when Leviton sold American Insulated Wire to Southwire. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the postwar economic boom Leviton manufactured materials for the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

. In 1963, Leviton opened manufacturing facilities in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

under the name Southern Devices, as well as a manufacturing plant in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. In 1965, Isidor's son Harold Leviton assumed the roles of CEO and president, and Isidor's son-in-law Jack Amsterdam became chairman. After the eruption of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

Capelinhos volcano in 1957 displaced Portuguese citizens, Harold Leviton facilitated jobs for 150 of the affected individuals who immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. In 1973, Leviton moved its headquarters to

Little Neck, Queens Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

. In 2007, following the death of Harold Leviton, the company named Harold's sons-in-law Donald Hendler and Stephen Sokolow CEO and chairman of the board respectively. Later in 2007, Leviton was sued by electronics company Lutron over alleged infringement of patents. In 2009, the company moved its headquarters to Melville, Long Island. In the 2010s, Leviton made several acquisitions. In 2012, the company acquired electrical device manufacturer Home Automation, Inc. In 2015, Leviton acquired cable manufacturer Brand-Rex. In 2016, Leviton acquired sustainable lighting manufacturer ConTech Lighting for an undisclosed amount. In 2017, Leviton acquired

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

based company Birchwood Lighting. By 2017, Leviton was considered the largest producer of electrical wiring devices in the United States, employing 6,500 people worldwide with an annual revenue of $1.5 billion. In July 2020, Leviton acquired copper and fiber cable manufacturer Berk-Tek from

Nexans Nexans S.A. is a global company in the cable and optical fibre industry headquartered in Paris, France. The group is active in four main business areas: buildings and territories (construction, local infrastructure, smart cities / grids, e-mobi ...

for $202 million. In February 2023, the company launched its Level 2

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

charging station A charging station, also known as a charge point, chargepoint, or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a power supply electrical device, device that supplies electrical power for recharging plug-in electric vehicles (including batter ...

s including 32, 48, and 50 Amp level 2 compatibility.

Key competitors

Eaton Corporation Eaton Corporation plc is an American-Irish-domiciled multinational power management company, with a primary administrative center in Beachwood, Ohio. Eaton has more than 85,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countr ...

( Cooper Wiring Devices) *

Hubbell Incorporated Hubbell Incorporated, headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut, is an American company that designs, manufactures, and sells electrical and electronic products for non-residential and residential construction, industrial, and utility applications. ...

* Legrand (Pass & Seymour) * Lutron Electronics Company

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://leviton.com/ Electrical wiring and construction supplies manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in New York (state) Companies based in New York City Companies based in Suffolk County, New York American companies established in 1906 Manufacturing companies established in 1906 Privately held companies based in New York (state)