— The Progressive Lighting CEO is honored for more than four decades of industry leadership. —
Dallas Market Center and ART, the creative home furnishings network, announce Troy Lee, chief executive officer of Progressive Lighting, as the recipient of the Academy of Achievement Award for a career of leadership, growth, and lasting commitment to the home and lighting industries. The award will be presented at the 37th ARTS Awards, taking place at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Friday, January 8, 2027.
The Academy of Achievement is one of the ARTS Awards’ special honors, selected by the ARTS Awards Committee rather than through the nomination and judging process that determines the category awards (see this year’s judges here). It recognizes an individual whose body of work has shaped the industry over the course of a career.
“Troy Lee has spent more than 40 years building businesses that raised the standard for the entire lighting industry, and he has given just as generously of his time to the organizations that move it forward,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “His leadership on our Lightovation Board helped shape the market our lighting customers know today. This honor is well earned.”
“Troy started on a showroom floor and never lost sight of what happens there,” said Sharon Davis, executive director of ART. “That perspective is what makes his career remarkable — he built a national brand and a leading retail organization while staying close to the people who sell, specify, and live with these products every day.”
Lee earned his degree in economics from Mercer University and began his career with Progressive Lighting in 1983, learning the business from the ground up as first a sales associate, then showroom manager, store manager, and director of operations. That breadth of experience led him to found Savoy House in 2000, where he served as president and director of operations. In 2019, he was named chief executive officer of Progressive Lighting.
Today he leads the largest chain of family-owned and operated residential lighting showrooms in the Southeast, along with the Savoy House lighting brand and the e-commerce platform LightsOnline.com. The companies encompass 11 showroom locations across Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, and Savoy House distributes from a 550,000-square-foot facility in Duluth, Georgia, with an international presence that includes offices in Asia.
His impact extends well beyond the companies he leads. A longtime advocate for the lighting industry, Lee has served as chairman of the Dallas Market Center Lightovation Board, chairman of the American Lighting Association (ALA) Finance Committee, and a member of the ALA Board of Governors. That same commitment to service extends to his community, where he holds leadership roles with his church, the Johns Creek Symphony, and the Johns Creek Chorale Board.
“This industry has given me a career I could not have imagined when I walked onto a showroom floor in 1983, and every good thing that followed came from the people I have worked alongside since,” said Lee. “To be recognized by ART and Dallas Market Center, in the room where our industry celebrates its best work, is a true honor.”
In addition to the Academy of Achievement, dozens of category awards will be presented at the ARTS Awards to retailers, manufacturers, designers, and sales representatives.
A full list of the 37th ARTS Awards finalists can be viewed here. Reservations for the ARTS Awards open in early October.