Our Achievements

514,000+

Streetlights in Contract

192,000+

Streetlights Acquired

45,000+

Streetlights Maintained

155+

Projects Nationwide

Our Company

Tanko Lighting was founded in 2003 with a simple mission – to reduce the waste stream from streetlighting. While we were originally a green manufacturer of refurbished streetlight fixtures, our company evolved to a full service, technology-driven business model. Tanko incorporates GIS field audits, detailed designs, ownership support, and project management services to provide a tailored, turn-key solution for any municipal streetlighting project.

Our CEO

Tanko Lighting is led by Founder and CEO, Jason Tanko. As a life-long streetlight enthusiast, he was enamored by streetlights at a very young age. As a child, he routinely built model train cities just to design the streetlight system. Jason’s unusual passion for streetlighting led to him obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Seattle University.

His early career involved engineering power distribution designs, lighting, building control systems, and electrical control systems for airplane equipment. Additionally, Jason served as a district engineer for a utility company, coordinating streetlight outage management, operations, and line crews. Jason’s transition into energy efficiency included designing low and medium voltage power and lighting systems and managing the implementation of commercial energy efficiency programs.

In 2003, while obtaining his Master of Business Administration at Seattle University, Jason decided to turn a business plan and passion into his livelihood – creating Tanko Lighting.

Jason continues to lead the company and be involved with every project. He provides oversight on engineering, design, product development, business development and project management.

Our Values

Tanko Lighting is a values-based company. Everything we do focuses on the triple bottom line of People, Planet, and Profit.

People

At the core of any successful project or enterprise are relationships. Whether it is with customers, vendors, suppliers, or employees – we promote respect, accountability, trust, and good communication with everyone. We are also committed to social entrepreneurship, investing in our community, growing leaders, and fostering an inclusive workplace.

Planet

Founded on a core principle of sustainability and reducing the waste stream from the streetlighting industry, our work has expanded into a primary focus on energy efficient streetlighting. Our commitment to the environment involves reducing energy use and carbon dioxide emissions by converting municipalities to LED streetlight fixtures. We also develop replacement designs that maximize the light distribution using the least amount of watts and ensure that decommissioned fixtures are properly recycled.

Profit

Tanko Lighting offers options that solve customers’ needs while staying grounded in reality. We understand that cost, quality, and efficiency are essential concerns for customers. The solutions we offer are workable, cost-effective and bring tremendous value. Our turn-key services provide actionable options to our clients for comprehensive conversions, system buyouts, and custom projects. Further, as a privately-owned corporation, we must ensure that our business practices promote the financial health of our company. Daily business decisions are made balancing our values with our internal budgets. This has led to our ongoing financial stability, proving that a corporate entity can be mission-driven and economically successful.