IKO has announced the official grand opening of its production facility in Hillsboro, Texas.
Marketing Director Carol Perkins says that local dignitaries and IKO customers were invited to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour the plant during its official grand opening celebration. The plant began producing product in late December.
The 250,000-square-foot production and warehouse facility is historic for IKO as it completes its manufacturing footprint in the U.S., allowing it to serve and build upon the customer and homeowner base in the Southwest. IKO opened its first U.S. asphalt shingle plant in Wilmington, Del., in 1981.
According to Vice-president of Sales (U.S.), Keith Lowe, the flagship facility is a component of its long-term strategic expansion plan as well as a statement on its commitment to the U.S. market. “IKO has built more facilities and invested more in our technology in the past twenty years,” says Lowe. “We are proud of the effort and resources that we’ve invested in better serving our U.S. customers.”
As it officially opens, the facility will employ 65 people locally, with the possibility for future expansion to meet consumer demand. The project was announced in 2015, shortly after the company opened its IKO Southeast facility in Sylacauga, Ala. Plans are underway for the construction of a facility west of Toronto, Ontario, modernizing the IKO plant in eastern Canada, built in 1958.