LIGHT-
BULB
MOMENT
Verilux, maker of “winter blues”
therapy, finds inspiration in darkness
By Kim Asch
Photographed by Natalie Stultz
W
inter is at once Vermont’s
special promise and its crucible.
Along with the anticipation
of powdery snowfall comes a
perennial dread of gray skies and
spans of darkness that, around the
winter solstice, can last 15 hours.
Nicholas Harmon, whose company, Verilux, makes
light-driven products designed to ease the winter blues,
can only smile at the paradox of his decision to pull
up stakes from Connecticut and go deeper into winter
as a Vermonter. “Connecticut is pretty far north, and
winters there can be tough,” says Harmon. “But I think
because there are fewer people here and less hubbub, it
can feel especially dark and lonely in Vermont between
November and February.”
Call it market research, then, but Harmon, along
with his wife, AnnMarie, have built a multimillion-dollar
light therapy business from their base in Waitsfield.
Drawn to the area by their passion for winter sports at
Sugarbush Resort, they also sought a pace free of city
