Alside turns 75 as new owner invests in capacity, R&D

SVP Global LLC, the new owner of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based Associated Materials LLC, is investing tens of millions of dollars to add capacity and bolster research and development as the company celebrates its 75th anniversary as a building products manufacturer.

Founded in 1947 as Alside Inc. — Alside is now an Associated Materials brand — the company launched its first big product of baked enamel aluminum siding after building on developments that came out of World War II. Other innovations followed, including vinyl siding in 1979, vinyl windows and doors, some of the first Energy Star-rated products and, more recently, Ascend-brand composite siding.

Named the "most innovative building material" of 2021 at the virtual International Builders' Show, Ascend combines a glass-reinforced polymer with graphite-infused polystyrene to produce a Class A fire-rated cladding that also resists strong winds and impact.

Ascend is up to 75 percent lighter in weight than other sidings so it can be installed easier and faster, while the graphite polystyrene adds strength, energy efficiency and wind load resistance to 180 miles per hour.

Expanding capacity for Ascend is part of the investment plan for SVP Global, Associated Materials CEO James Drexinger said in a phone interview.

The Greenwich, Conn.-based investment firm acquired Associated Materials in January, seeing new opportunities for the legacy company and its 4,700 employees, Drexinger added.

"We have launched an internal transformation with a significant number of initiatives to improve our customer experience," Drexinger, CEO since June, said.

With $1.6 billion in annual sales, Associated Materials is a vertically integrated company that manufactures vinyl windows, vinyl siding, and metal siding and trim for the residential and commercial remodeling and new construction markets under the brands Alside, Gentek, Preservation and Alpine.

An estimated $335 million of sales comes from plastic profiles, making Associated Materials the 15th-largest pipe, profile and tubing extruder in North America, according to Plastics News' latest ranking, and No. 6 among profiles processors.

The company operates 11 manufacturing facilities in North America and has more than 125 supply centers that move product to customers. Three plants produce plastic products: West Salem, Ohio; Ennis, Texas; and Burlington, Ontario.

Drexinger said he couldn't be specific about the amount of investment that will be made or how it will be spent for competitive reasons. But he did say capacity was being added for Ascend and that expansion projects are underway at several plants in the form of either additional production lines or upgraded equipment to increase productivity.

"Multiple times the dollar invested in the business over the last five years will be invested in the next three," Drexinger said. "A lot of it is upgrading the equipment in our manufacturing locations and automation. It's significant. That's why this was an attractive investment for SVP Global. There are so many opportunities from the investment side of the equation."

Associated Materials operates as a portfolio company of SVP Global, which has more than $18 billion of assets under management.

Even during a time of rising interest rates and economic uncertainty, especially in the housing market, SVP Global is investing in Associated Materials. The portfolio company has the right products for growing markets as well as installation partners, Drexinger said.

In addition to Ascend, he pointed to the Mezzo-brand full-frame replacement window system introduced in 2019. The system consists of Energy Star-rated Mezzo-brand vinyl windows, a frame with a nailing flange for flashing and water management, and decorative trim for a consistent look on all replaced windows.

The Mezzo system can save up to 40 minutes of installation time per window.

"On a home installation, for every 10 windows, you could end up saving 3-7 hours of installation time for the contractor," Drexinger said. "That's good for the homeowner in terms of a faster installation and good for our contractor customers because they can manage more projects over the course of their scheduling."

With the labor shortage showing no end in sight, contractors and homeowners are looking to save time and money with products like Mezzo and Ascend, the latter of which can be installed with fewer laborers and needs no sealing, joint flashing or caulking.

"Approximately 70 percent of our business is in the repair-and-remodel segment, which we love for a good number of reasons," Drexinger said. "It's not quite as cyclical in terms of the peaks and valleys that new residential construction can have."

Homeowners have some equity built up over the last decade or two and they're using it to make improvements that increase energy efficiency and update aesthetics rather than upgrade to a new house.

"We're seeing continued demand for replacement windows and exterior cladding. Our Ascend products and vinyl cladding and metal products fit in the economic environment we're in at this point," Drexinger said. "That's not to say we won't face a soft patch or a deeper economic impact, but our plans are based on solid business cases and the owners are going to make those investments regardless of the economic environment. We're in this for the medium- and long-term. At 75 years, we're starting our next chapter with a significant level of investment."

Drexinger succeeded Brian Strauss, who had the CEO position since May 2014. He said his goal is to empower Alside staff to produce quality products that provide energy efficiency and beauty.

"The mission is really enhancing where we live and work and we're literally looking to do that one place at a time for generations to come," Drexinger said.

He has previously served as CEO of American Construction Source; division president and general manager of stock building supplier BMC; senior vice president at Nibco Inc.; and various general manager roles at Armstrong World Industries.

Drexinger said there's an underlying reason why his career has been focused on building products and that he now has a role at Associated Materials.

"We're in a noble industry. At the end of the day, we play a small part in helping build the places where families and individuals live," Drexinger said. "We're also at a beautiful inflection point with our 75th year of celebration. We're respectful of all this company and the teams have accomplished and we're using it as a springboard for the next chapter of innovation and service to our customers."

The Alside company was founded by brothers Jerome and Manual Kaufman and their associates in 1947. They unveiled their first big product that year — baked enamel aluminum siding invented by Jerome Kaufman, who was inspired by the paint-bonding processes used for Word War II plane fuselages.

In 1955, Alside opened the first company-owned supply centers in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Chicago. The company became one of the largest users of sheet aluminum in the world.

Alside was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1961. Four years later all outstanding stock was acquired by U.S. Steel.

In the 1970s, Alside began distributing and then manufacturing aluminum windows and doors. Then, in 1979, the company entered the vinyl siding market with the construction of a new manufacturing facility in West Salem, Ohio.

To meet the needs of what it called a changing marketplace, Alside developed its first vinyl replacement windows in 1980.

The company entered the new construction market for vinyl windows in 1995 with its launch of its Performance series, which was followed in 1996 by the introduction of its premier vinyl siding, the Charter Oak series.

In 1998, Alside became a partner in a new program established by the Department of Energy called Energy Star.

The company completed construction of a new vinyl extrusion plant in Freeport, Texas, named Freeport Vinyl Technologies, in 1999.

In 2000, Alside purchased Alpine Window of Bothell, Wash., bringing the total number of window manufacturing facilities to four and providing a West Coast presence.

The company introduced its Prodigy-brand line of insulated siding in 2005, offering a clapboard siding with a true flat face, an extended length and fade resistance.

Alside introduced its FrameWorks window collection in 2010 and three years later was out with a new polyurethane coating technology to offer more than 80 interior and exterior finish combinations.

Also in 2013, Alside started to offer insulated siding verified for energy performance and color retention, and it launched a Charter Oak siding featuring graphite polystyrene Neopor-brand thermal foam technology.

In 2018, Alside launched its 1700 and 1900 series of vinyl windows for new construction, which was followed in 2019 with the introduction of its Mezzo system and in 2020 the launch of Ascend.

Ascend composite planks consist of a glass-reinforced polymer extruded with weatherable pigments and impact modifiers that are then adhered to a graphite-infused polystyrene foam.

The glass fibers are provided through the composite technology from Tundra Cos., a White Bear Lake, Minn.-based material science company.

Just like its early days, Alside staff took a known technology and incorporated it into a siding product.

Those days aren't over. Drexinger said some of the latest investments also will go toward research and development.

"To stay competitive we're continuing to increase our focus on more innovative products," he said. "We're making an investment on the development side of the equation, too."

Company officials are moving forward with confidence, Drexinger added.

"We have a long history and even back in the 2008-09 financial crisis and other soft patches since then, the company has always performed solid through downturns," Drexinger said. "I think it's the innovative products we have, the product mix we have, and the end markets we have with a network of supply centers working in partner with local contractors every day. We continue to have a beautifully integrated model where we manufacture our products and we move them through our company distribution systems. That's unique in the industry but it's a model that served us incredibly well."