Palmerston, Ontario-based Trusscore Inc., a manufacturer of PVC wall and ceiling panels designed to displace drywall, is investing $5.4 million to renovate the former MSW Plastics USA plant in Vandalia, Ohio, into the headquarters site for Trusscore USA Inc.
Founded in 2020, Trusscore's website says it grew out of MSW Plastics, which had been extruding plastic panels for livestock to keep them from transmitting viruses like swine flu since 2007.
The owners of the two privately held companies partnered to help MSW Plastics reach new markets beyond agriculture under the Trusscore name.
One of its first products, TempWall, was in big demand early during the pandemic to help hospitals and health care facilities reconfigure spaces for safety and social distancing.
Other products are selling well for garage interiors, commercial kitchens, indoor agriculture and car washes.
In a video about its 2022 fiscal year, which ended Feb. 28, Trusscore says sales increased from $27 million in 2020 to $40 million last year in 2021 and to $73 million for 2022.
For its first quarter of 2023, the order intake was up from $16 million in the prior year to $19 million, according to a May email from Trusscore CEO Dave Caputo.
The email also mentions the company is considering an initial public offering.
To establish its U.S. headquarters, Trusscore received a $162,000 economic development grant came from the Montgomery County Board of County Commissioners as part of a program to attract jobs and retain the county's tax base.
The funds can be used for construction costs, including machinery and equipment. Trusscore plans to spend $4.6 million in renovations and $821,000 in new equipment, according to the grant application, the Dayton Daily News reported.
When completed, the renovation project will create 12 new jobs and retain 46 at the facility, which will serve the U.S. market and export product to Canada.
Officials also said they are investing in research to discover new materials and formulations.
Trusscore bills itself as a material science company for sustainable building materials with the ultimate vision of replacing painted drywall.
In July 2021, the company bought all the assets of Westech Building Products Inc. from Houston-based Westlake Chemical Corp., including extrusion lines, compounding assets, pulverizers, grinders, to meet demand.
In October, Trusscore had a grand opening celebration for its "experience showroom" in Kitchener, Ontario, where the public can see its alternatives to drywall.
The facility showcases all Trusscore products, including the wall and ceiling board, which is a lightweight and durable compared to drywall; slat wall, which is a heavy-duty wall with storage slats; NorLock, which are freestanding dividers and partitioning panels; RibCore, which is a corrugated panel for agricultural, commercial, and industrial applications; DockDeck and TempWall.
Trusscore's marketing and R&D teams are based in Kitchener with manufacturing plants in Palmerston, Ontario and Vandalia, which is near Dayton, Ohio.