Solid-state lighting took center stage at the SPECS Sustainability session, “LEDs: Perception and Reality.”

Speaker Leigh Savage, national accounts manager, GE Lighting, debunked many of the myths that surround LED lighting. They included:

• LEDs produce no heat at all. FALSE

• LEDs are more efficient than any other light source. NOT NECESSARILY.

• LEDs are still too expensive to use in retail applications. FALSE

By Shannon Martin, shannon.martin@onlinemediapartner.com

There are a variety of new technologies that will become available throughout 2012 to small business owners looking for ways to process credit and debit cards. In the past, business have had to rely on costly terminals purchased from merchant account providers who charged not only for the equipment, but also for the processing of the cards used by a business’ customers.