38 | MARCH 12 • 2020 

business SPOTlight

brought to you in partnership with 
B I R M I N G H A M

T

en years ago, the lives of brothers 
Alex and John Ketty, and Jeremy 
Eckhous converged onto a shared 
path — and it happened to be fluorescent. 
“
Alex came to my home to quote a 
replacement price for our deck,
” explains 
Eckhous, who formerly worked in the 
corporate world before becoming a serial 
entrepreneur. “My wife showed him several 
samples of a new, luminous compound that 
I had obtained from a British engineer. Alex 
was immediately struck with the possibili-
ties.
”
Today, the three West Bloomfield men 
are the owners of Glow Path Pavers, a 
Keego Harbor-based business making paver 
stones that glow in the dark. 
That initial encounter sparked their col-
laboration, but it didn’
t exactly progress at 
lightspeed. 
“For seven or eight years we would meet 
every couple of months to brainstorm appli-
cations, develop prototypes and research 
competitors,
” Eckhous recalls.
During that time, they not only fashioned 

product concepts, but also a genuine rela-
tionship. 
“We didn’
t really activate any of the 
ideas,
” he continues, “but we did generate a 
close friendship.
”
Their professional backgrounds proved 
complementary.
“We brought different perspectives,
” 
Eckhous says. “I’
ve done more technical 
stuff, and I think more corporate — I’
m 
more cautious about committing time and 
money. They’
ve learned by doing, through 
owning their small business [Creative Brick 
Pavers, also in Keego Harbor].
” 
They also come from different faiths. But 
that hasn’
t dimmed their prospects. To the 
contrary. 
“We share the same values,
” says Eckhous, 
who grew up in Huntington Woods, 
graduated from Berkley High School and 
Michigan State University and made his 
bar mitzvah at Temple Israel. “I think 
Chaldeans appreciate the same things Jews 
do: education, family, integrity and honesty.
“In our business, that means creating an 

honest product that does what it says it does 
and makes life simpler and more environ-
mentally responsible and sustainable.
”
Eckhous does not consider himself 
religious. “My worldview hasn’
t been that 
Jewish,
” he says, “but I am dedicated to 
the Jewish culture. I really ascribe to being 
outgoing, generous, kind and thoughtful 
and committed to living a good life without 
harming others or causing trouble or being 
dishonest in any way.
“My dad reacted to his Orthodox New 
York upbringing by kind of going the other 
direction, but he also believed that if you’
re 
good to people and honest and you believe 
in carrying yourself with integrity, good 
things are going to happen,
” Eckhous adds. 
“So that’
s what’
s guided me throughout my 
life.
” 
As for the Kettys, Alex describes him-
self and his brother as “very religious” 

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

Alex Ketty of West Bloomfield, Jeremy Eckhous of West Bloomfield and John Ketty of Birmingham 
.

GLOW PATH PAVERS

Business Shines

Two Chaldeans and a Jew are on a mission to make 
the world glow. Parts of it, anyway.

SAM BLAKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Keego Harbor

