Industry News

Oakville, Ontario, Canada – Vicwest Building Products, a division of Vicwest Inc. (TSX: VIC, VIC.DB, VIC.DB.A), (“Vicwest”) has entered into a three-year association with Jim Caruk, Master Contractor, Editor-in-Chief of Renovation Contractor, founder of Renos for Heroes, and host of HGTV’s Real Renos and Builder Boss. The agreement between Vicwest and Caruk involves a category exclusive endorsement of Vicwest-branded building products.

Atlanta, GA - SAF (Southern Aluminum Finishing Co., Inc.) has increased its architectural panel-making capacity with a new CNC ALU Ranger 6321 VG Panel Router at the company’s SAF-West plant in Redding, CA.

Eufaula, AL - American Buildings Company (ABC), a leading domestic and international manufacturer and marketer of high-quality metal building systems for industrial, commercial, and institutional construction markets, announces the addition of Ken Funk Construction Inc. of Norfolk, Neb. to its national network of Builders.

Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Industries’ (NYSE: PPG) industrial coatings business has received a $224,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help develop dark-colored pigments for cool metal roof and façade coatings that incorporate near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence and reflectance to improve energy performance.

Washington, DC - The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announces it has been reaccredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) under its recently revised operating procedures for documenting consensus on AISI-sponsored American National Standards.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada - A global leader in the roll forming industry has aligned itself with an innovative European firm to bring enhanced efficiencies, creativity and service. Recognizing the business synergies both companies share, Samco Machinery Limited of Toronto, Canada has formed an alliance with VAPTECH, based in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Schofield, WI – A new video from Airolite details the Air Movement and Control Association International, Inc. (AMCA) Standard 540 Large Missile Impact Testing and its effect on the specification of louvers on buildings located within wind-borne-debris and hurricane-prone regions.

Moon Township, PA - CENTRIA Coating Services announces the promotions of two longstanding employees of the organization. Jim Connelly will assume the newly created position of Director of Continuous Improvement and Supplier Relations and Charlie Hamilton has been named Director of Coil Coating Operations for the company’s two plants.

Rogers, MN - Quality Metalcrafts, LLC/Americlad®, an architectural metal fabrication company based in Rogers, Minnesota, has named Dean Wallace as the recipient of the company’s Salesman Of The Year award.

West Chester, OH - ClarkDietrich Building Systems announces that it has become the exclusive worldwide manufacturer of TRAKLOC® products. ClarkDietrich has acquired the machinery, equipment and intellectual property necessary to produce the TRAKLOC Steel Framing System from TSF Systems, LLC., a Sacramento-based California company.

McHenry, IL - The March 2014 issue of Business In Focus magazine includes a feature on an Illinois-based roofing contractor with direct ties to the metal construction industry. Pages 214-219 of that issue include a feature on Metalmaster Roofmaster, the parent company of Sno-Gem Inc. Metalmaster Roofmaster, Sno-Gem and affiliated businesses are owned by the Smeja family. Third-generation family member Rock Smeja, Metalmaster's vice president of marketing, was interviewed for the article and is quoted throughout.

Eufaula, AL - American Buildings Company (ABC) announces its recent hiring of Nathan Pranger as the new Builder Services Manager – Midwest Division. Pranger continues the commitment ABC has to being the safest, highest quality, lowest cost and most productive metal building manufacturer in the metal building industry.

Olathe, KS - The 2014 International Reflective Insulation Manufacturers (I-RIM) Conference was held March 5-7 at the Crowne Plaza Dockland Hotel in London. The event hosted guests from 15 countries including the U.S., Canada, India, UK, France, Italy, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Scotland, Slovenia, Portugal, Mexico and Israel.

Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Industries’ (NYSE:PPG) industrial coatings business has published a new brochure detailing PPG’s full range of extrusion coatings for exterior building products.

DeLand, FL – On March 31, 2014, Kingspan North America will launch KINetic™, a new social media platform that frees design and construction professionals from the unwanted aspects of other outlets. Conceived by Kingspan, KINetic™ has been tested extensively to hone its usefulness for the creative community.

Pleasanton, CA - Simpson Strong-Tie, supplier of engineered structural connectors, offers three new utility clips for cold-formed steel construction: the SFC steel framing connector, the SJC steel joist connector and the SSC steel stud connector.

Manning, SC – Grupo Aliberico, the parent company of South Carolina based Alucoil North America, has announced the establishment of an aluminum composite material manufacturing plant in Campbellfield, Victoria, just outside the city of Melbourne, Australia.

Washington, DC – After starting out the year on a positive note, there was another minor increase in the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) last month. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the February ABI score was 50.7, up slightly from a mark of 50.4 in January.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Samco Machinery announces the promotion of Jorgo Ruco to International Sales Manager.

Houston, TX - ABIS Inc. announces the addition of Ray Kimble, sales consultant; and Katie Thurman and Elizabeth O’Neal, implementation consultants.