Industry News

St. Louis, MO - The Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA) announces the appointment of Bill Hippard as Executive Director of the organization focused on building the residential metal roofing industry. Hippard replaces Tom Black, the MRA’s inaugural Executive Director, who has retired. In his new role, Hippard will be responsible for the daily management of the MRA’s ongoing North American marketing program to increase metal roofing’s residential market share.

Leola, PA - For those who’ve been frustrated trying to align snow guards on a standing seam metal roof, Levi’s Building Components offers its new 55RF Snow Defender snow guard. The 55RF Snow Defender installs in two-part process, utilizing S-5!™ clamps as its connection point to the metal roof, with the Snow Defender then attached to the clamp.

Raleigh, NC - VMZINC®-US, the international brand name of rolled zinc products manufactured and sold by the Building Products Unit of the Umicore group, has announced that the company’s Paris-based operational marketing manager, Laurent Heindryckx, will now oversee new territories around the world as part of his duties, including all of North America, India and Asia-Pacific.

Washington, DC - The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has joined the Cold-Formed Steel Research Consortium (CFSRC) as a founding member. The CFSRC is a group of principal investigators from several universities who are sharing their experimental and computational facilities to undertake specific projects that span all aspects of cold-formed steel structural research. AISI joins Geometrica in its founding member capacity.

Louisville, KY - Drexel Metals has promoted Geoff Elliott to the newly created position of National Architectural Manager. In this position, Elliott will be charged with developing relationships with the architectural community, roofing consultants, large contracting firms as well as the company’s own DM-ARM Authorized Fabricators.

Cleveland, OH - The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) approved its 2015 Board of Directors at the MBMA Annual Meeting held on December 10, 2014 in Dallas, TX. Tom Gilligan of Butler Manufacturing is the MBMA Chairman for 2015. MBMA also honored Dale Nelson of Roof Hugger Inc. as the winner of the 2014 Innovation Award.

Temple, GA - Janus International Group LLC, a manufacturer of steel roll up doors and building components designed for the self-storage, industrial and commercial door dealer markets, has hired Terry Bagley as Vice President of Business Development.

Houston, TX - NCI Building Systems, Inc. (NYSE: NCS), one of North America's largest integrated manufacturers of metal products for the nonresidential building industry, announces that it has closed its previously announced acquisition of CENTRIA, a leading provider of architectural insulated metal panel (IMP) wall and roof systems and coil coating services for a net cash price of $245 million. NCI intends to immediately begin cross-company integration.

DeLand, FL - Kingspan was the recipient of the 2014 Green Product Award at the 34th annual Volusia Manufacturers Association (VMA) awards. The event was held on Dec. 11, 2014 at the Daytona International Speedway’s Daytona 500 Club.

Allentown, PA - ATAS International Inc. - a leading supplier of metal roofing, wall and ceiling panels - rings in the New Year by adding a number of mobile-friendly features to the company’s ATAS.com website.

Leola, PA - Levi’s Building Components has announced the hiring of Chris Ray as its new National Sales Manager. As a new addition to the Levi’s Building Components team, Ray brings over 30 years of leadership experience gained from working in a variety of industries and the public sector.

The Netherlands - New testing verifies that recent changes to the composition of CondenStop® CCM membrane has further improved the product’s effectiveness in controlling condensation and reducing the potential effects of corrosion in metal roofing applications. Fraunhofer IBP of Stuttgart, Germany, conducted the testing on CondenStop® CCM (CCM stands for condensation control membrane), which is produced by Lantor BV.

Chandler, AZ - Kovabond is introduced as a metal composite material designed to provide architects, contractors and building owners with “limitless options” when it comes to exterior cladding and metal wall panels.

Washington, DC - Co-sponsors of an international student competition on cold-formed steel design announce three winners from the University of North Texas, Tongji University and the University of Waterloo. The 2014 International Student Competition on Cold-Formed Steel Design promoted higher education in cold-formed steel structural design and encouraged students to use creative thinking skills to solve engineering problems.

Beloit, WI - Building products distributor ABC Supply Co. Inc. has acquired the assets of Wameling Drywall Corp. (doing business as Gilbert Supply Company), a single-location distributor of exterior building products, wallboard and insulation, in Marcy, New York.

Lutz, FL - Roof Hugger, Inc. has updated their library of literature and technical tools. Included are Roof Hugger’s 12-page “Proven Solutions for Re-Roofing Metal Roofs” brochure, their 108-page “Design and Installation Solutions” manual and now a new CD-ROM that includes an animated installation video, editable performance specifications, ASTM testing results, 65 AutoCAD installation details, various PowerPoint Presentations and much more.

Hatfield, PA - After months of experimentation, Laminators Incorporated announces the availability of color matched extrusions for all seven of their Designer Series colors and finishes.

Washington, DC - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address during the 2015 AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in Atlanta on May 14th.

Kutztown, PA - Palram Americas, a leading manufacturer of polycarbonate and PVC sheets, has partnered with Snavely Forest Products, a recognized distribution leader in the wholesale lumber and building products industry, to offer the full line of PALIGHT® Trimboard products.

Peachtree City, GA - MetalTech-USA, a distributor of sheet, coil, and finished architectural metal systems, is expanding into the Latin American market.