Intex Millwork Solutions LLC, a New Jersey-based manufacturer specializing in the design and fabrication of custom PVC trim and millwork, relocated in March to a new facility in Millville.
Intex President Joe Umosella said the company moved because it needed more production and storage space. The new location is 36,000 square feet, and has about 28 employees.
Umosella opened the company in Williamstown, N.J., in 2006. Prior to opening Intex, Umosella owned New Jersey-based Universal Supply Inc., which sold building products. He sold the company five years ago but retained the assets of its mill shop, which he used to start Intex.
Right now the company's biggest product offerings are railings, columns, newels and pergolas, Umosella said in an Aug. 10 telephone interview. Intex also makes a line of fabricated, ready-to-install PVC window and door surrounds.
Intex uses only plastics in its millwork instead of wood, the more traditional building material, he said.
Aluminum is used as a structural component in products, Umosella said, and some pieces contain stainless steel. But the exterior of every product is made entirely of plastic, and can be made to reproduce the look of old wood.
Umosella said using plastic has several advantages. The products are maintenance-free, will not rot and do not absorb moisture. It also is possible to “get the look of old architecture without all the maintenance associated with it.”
He said although the product is more expensive than wood, “the long-term benefits outweigh the difference in cost.”
The company buys sheet and uses a rip saw to shape the product to customer specifications.
About 70 percent of business comes from remodeling jobs, with the remaining 30 percent coming from new construction, Umosella said.
Intex primarily serves the East Coast, with customers spanning from Maine to South Carolina, though with some shipping as far west as Ohio.
The company would like to expand beyond this region, but the problem is the product “is much more well-received along the coast because of the continuous maintenance needs of homes there,” Umosella said.
Intex has done remodeling jobs on churches and on the campus of Harvard University, he said.
Builders and developers “have a high confidence level using PVC over wood,” he added. The firm does not sell products directly to consumers, but is working on less-technical literature that contractors can leave with homeowners.
Umosella said Intex has not been immune to challenging economic times facing the building industry. The firm had layoffs in 2009 but not this year. “We do things like work shorter hours or have brief shutdowns to keep the crews together so we don't have to do further layoffs,” he said.