About
George Hartner and his wife Jane Cockrell started Outdoor Illumination in 2005 after several stints in corporate America. They met while at AT&T and were married in 1986. Jane ended up becoming President of AT&T, North and South Carolina based in Charlotte. She grew up in Wilson, NC and those roots helped the family move back to the sunny south a few years ago after spending several years in Maryland. Jane is a bit shy about admitting it, but she is the brains of the family holding a PhD in Industrial Psychology from the prestigious Stevens Institute in New Jersey.
George is the Yankee in the family (although he’s really a Met’s fan) hailing from Wantagh, Long Island, home of Jones Beach. After leaving AT&T, George headed up a consulting firm called Hartner Entertainment where clients included Unilever, Rolling Stone Magazine, MTV, Coty, AT&T, the Walden Woods Project, and many more. He admits that he’s much happier in the dirt and climbing up trees than wearing the suit and tie. He holds a BA degree in Communications from Cortland State University in New York.
Using the skills from their past lives, Hartner and Cockrell committed themselves to bringing the magic of nighttime lighting to the Cape Fear region. They began pursuing courses in plant identification, electrical operations, and lighting design. Sometimes they will collaborate on a project and other times they will compete (in a friendly way of course!) to deliver a world-class design on their own.
As the head of operations, Hartner can be found on every single job performed by Outdoor Illumination. And anyone out there with him has been given the training and skills necessary for producing the top-notch end product that Hartner and Cockrell are committed to delivering.
Landscape lighting is not a job for Hartner and Cockrell. It truly has become a passion. That passion is reflected in every single installation performed by Outdoor Illumination.