Waldom Electronics installs 760 solar panels at its global headquarters in Rockford

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app

ROCKFORD — Waldom Electronics cut the ribbon on Tuesday on a solar panel system that is projected to offset more than 7,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next two decades.

The 760 single-axis tracking solar panels were designed and installed by Orbital Energy at Waldom’s global headquarters at 1801 Morgan St. in southwest Rockford.

“Sustainability is a big piece of what we do at Waldom,” said Don Akery, CEO of Waldom Electronics. “Sustainability is not a buzzword, it’s not a marketing campaign for us. It’s really how we want to run. We see the benefit of running our facilities this way.”

The company cut the ribbon in a ceremony with the Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce and Aldermen Tamir Bell, Gabrielle Torina, Kevin Frost and Chad Tuneberg.

The Rockford-based company supplies electronic and electrical components to a global network of more than 2,500 distributors. Waldom bills itself as a “distributor’s distributor,” and does not sell to end users or original equipment manufacturers.

The 78-year-old company employs about 130 people in Rockford and 250 total globally. It also has offices in Georgetown, Ohio, as well as Amsterdam, Singapore and two locations in China, in Shanghai an Shenzhen.

It said the solar project is part of its ongoing commitment to the environment, which includes tree-planting initiatives, a Green Stock program designed to reduce landfill waste, and efforts to reduce its carbon footprint with optimized shipping routes and other travel practices.

The Green Stock program is an effort to reduce landfill waste by extending the life of components and adapting excess inventory to be reintroduced into the supply chain. The program was responsible for saving seven billion electric components from the landfill last year, Akery said. The company also planted 260,000 trees last year, one for every Green Stock order. It’s on pace to plant more than 500,000 trees this year. The location and growth of each tree is verified through Vancouver-based Veritree.

The solar panels are expected to generate 38,000 kilowatt hours of energy each month, the equivalent to powering about 42 homes. The company invested more than $1 million on the installation. It expects to be able to draw enough energy to power its facility and sell some energy back to the grid.

“This project is more than a solar installation. This investment directly speaks to Waldom’s commitment to a more sustainable future,” 13th Ward Alderman Tamir Bell said. “Waldom is a global company making local impact.”

Bell also highlighted the company’s charitable actions.

Waldom has a foundation that triples charitable donations made by its employees, and it provides a day off each year for volunteer work. It will also make a $100 donation on an employee’s behalf for those who can’t afford to donate on their own. The company gave 96 donations to 58 causes last year, including support to the Boys & Girls Club, Rockford Promise, PAWS and Lifescape, among others, Bell said.

“That’s not just giving back that’s building community,” Bell said. “Waldom is showing us what it means to be a responsible corporate partner.”

Akery said Waldom’s trajectory has it on a path to expand in approximately three to four years. The company owns land adjacent to its facility on Morgan Street, where it expects to build on to its warehouse.

“We’re here for the long haul,” Akery said.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas