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Rob Saltiel
DAKOTA SUPPLY GROUP TO
OPEN 12TH MINNESOTA LOCATION
Dakota Supply Group (DSG) announced plans to open a new branch in Rogers, Minnesota in December. It will be DSG’s 12th location in Minnesota and its 44th across six states. The new facility is located in the Gateway North Business Park at 6035 Queens Ave NE, just north of Rogers along Highway 101.
Servicing the plumbing, HVAC and electrical markets in the area, adding this new facility in the northwest is another step in DSG's overall effort to bring world-class customer experience directly to this important market, the company pointed out.
“We’re excited to open a location in this area of the Northwest Metro. It will help our current and future customers save travel time to get the materials they need,” said Clark Marshall, DSG Minnesota general manager. “This is a bustling, high-growth area with expanding infrastructure being built.”
Rob Saltiel
FERGUSON INSTALLS
SOLAR AT CALIFORNIA DC
"Since we opened our doors in 1953, Ferguson has built strong connections through an unwavering commitment to our customers, associates, suppliers and communities,” Ferguson CEO Kevin Murphy said. “Now, nearly 70 years later, it's still our people — and their commitment to our customers, reducing our environmental footprint and building a resilient business — that set us apart.”
Ferguson will celebrate National Clean Energy Week Sept. 20-25. SunPower Corp. installed the panels in 2019-2020. In 2020 alone, SunPower products offered an estimated 15 million tons of carbon dioxide according to SunPower’s 2020 ESG report.
Rob Saltiel
PHCC NAMES
INGRAO NEW CEO
The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors — National Association announced Mark S. Ingrao, CCP, CAE, has been selected as its new CEO. PHCC CEO Michael Copp will retire from PHCC in December 2021, and Ingrao officially assumes duties as CEO on Oct. 22, during PHCC’s Annual Business Meeting at PHCCCONNECT2021 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Ingrao brings more than 18 years of executive-level association management experience, most recently serving as CEO of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Asso-ciation. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. He also has served as principal of Aspen Strategies and vice president of government affairs for the National Apartment Association. He began his association career with the Apartment and Office Building Association.
“Mark has a solid record in association management, a keen eye for small business, having served as a local chamber executive and experience working with construc-tion industry stakeholders,” PHCC President Hunter Botto said. “We welcome him to our team, confident that he will continue to expand the services we offer our mem-ber contractors, strengthen our industry partnerships, and build a better future for PHCC and the industry.”
Ingrao has been exposed to the building trades his entire life; his father was a carpenter and owned a construction company specializing in high-rise multifamily and commercial complexes. Prior to his association positions, he was an associate with the executive recruiting firm of Heidrick & Struggles, manager of recruitment for the National Business Development Practice of Arthur Andersen, and held various positions at Washington Gas.
Ingrao also is active with several professional and community organizations, having served on boards for the Fairfax County’s Economic Advisory Commission, Reston Hospital Center, Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance and the University of Mary Washington, among others.
He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Mary Washington and is a certified association executive (CAE) and a certified compensation profes-sional (CCP).
“During my recent interactions with PHCC, I have been impressed with the passion of the members and their vision for the industry,” Ingrao said. “I look forward to working with the member-leadership and staff to develop future strategic plans for this well-respected and long-established organization, and building on the terrific achievements of the PHCC federation.”
Rob Saltiel
UPONOR SELLS
STAKE IN PHYN
Uponor and Belkin International have signed a share purchase agreement for the sale of Uponor’s shares in Phyn, a water-sensing and conservation technology company, to Belkin. Phyn was founded in 2016 as a joint venture between Uponor and Belkin, with both owning 50% of the company. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Uponor booked an impairment on Phyn’s valuation in its Q2 results.
“These five years have proven that Phyn is on the right path with its water leakage detection technology, yet market adoption has not reached the targeted levels," said Jyri Luomakoski, president and CEO of Uponor Corp. "Uponor has not been able to leverage its strong presence in the wholesale channel optimally. Having only limited synergies with our building solutions businesses, we have decided to sell our stake in Phyn to Belkin."
Rob Saltiel
IPEX TO OPEN
NORTH CAROLINA PLANT
IPEX announced a major investment in a new state-of-the-art injection molding plant to be built in Pineville, North Carolina. The new facility will encompass Industry 4.0, including artificial intelligence, and will significantly increase the company’s ability to manufacture fittings for plumbing, electrical, industrial and municipal applica-tions.
The nearly 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is being custom designed and built, and will become the technological flagship for the company’s operations and one of the most advanced plastics manufacturing facilities in the industry, IPEX pointed out. The plant’s flexible automation capabilities will enable total automation for all facets of sorting, labelling, counting, packing and assembly, it added.
To ensure world-class safety results from day one, the facility will incorporate industry-leading health and safety best practices, IPEX said. The plant’s automation capa-bilities will eliminate the majority of manual repetitive processes and tasks, and the production floor will be forklift-free, with vehicles auto-guided by artificial intelli-gence, increasing plant safety. Also, with sustainability in mind, the plant will be fully climate-controlled, use energy-efficient lighting, and high-efficiency machines to reduce the use of both electricity and water.
Given the importance that IPEX places on innovating to create new products and ideas to fulfil customer needs, the plant layout will also provide IPEX with space for testing and prototyping a great number of new products already in development, the manufacturer noted.
This new facility will increase production capacity substantially and will provide new career and job opportunities, with the expectation to hire more than 150 people from the local area. The plant’s use of Industry 4.0 will increase the need for supervisory, technical and quality control positions, IPEX added.
“This new plant is an exciting endeavor for IPEX, our customers, employees and the surrounding community. It is an integral part of our continued growth plans in North America,” said Alex Mestres, IPEX CEO. “This level of investment in new technologies, cloud connectivity and flexible automation will make this plant a learning showcase for the rest of our operations and will allow us to better serve our customers with added flexibility, response time and innovative products.”
Construction of IPEX’s groundbreaking facility is expected to be finalized in late 2022 with full operations expected to start in early 2023. Once the project is completed, the Pineville site, which includes an existing molding facility, will be home to nearly 100 injection-molding machines, IPEX’s biggest molding complex.
IPEX has announced significant expansion plans this year. The Pineville manufacturing plant is the company’s fourth new facility announcement in 2021, following three new distribution centers in Garland, Texas in the U.S., and in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in Canada.
Rob Saltiel
A. O. SMITH FOUNDATION
DONATES 30 WATER HEATERS
"A. O. Smith Foundation recently donated 30 of its high-efficiency water heaters to the Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity, located in Menasha, Wisconsin.
“We are grateful for this very generous donation from the A. O. Smith Foundation and for its longstanding support,” said John Weyenberg, president and CEO at Great-er Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity. “Donations such as these are the lifeblood of our organization, and these water heaters will more than cover our annual needs in both our home repair and construction programs. We thank A. O. Smith Foundation for their contribution to our mission of ensuring everyone in the Fox Cities has a de-cent and affordable place to live.”
“We commend the Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity for its efforts to empower families and inspire community-wide action to break the cycle of poverty, and we are proud to support this incredible organization doing such important work,” said Rita Schwallbach, A. O. Smith Foundation foundation manager. “Though this past year has been especially difficult, Habitat for Humanity continues to bring hope to families while building communities, one home at a time.”
Rob Saltiel
LIXIL AMERCIAS PARTNERS
WITH TOOLS & TIARAS
In July, LIXIL Americas partnered with Tools & Tiaras to sponsor a plumbing-focused workshop as part of the multi-day summer camp designed to introduce young girls and women to the skilled trade industry.
Tools & Tiaras is an organization dedicated to advancing the interest of young girls and women who want to pursue careers in traditionally male-dominated trade professions. The initiative is one effort to help reduce the downward labor shortage trend in the skilled trade industry. For every five tradespeople who retire, only one enters the industry, and in 2020 only 2.3% of plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in the U.S. were women, LIXIL Americas pointed out.
“We are committed to making a positive impact in the communities where we live and work,” said Debbie Drury, leader, communications, LIXIL. “Knowing that plumbers protect the health of the nation, yet the number of people entering plumbing and trade crafts is on a steady decline, we believe it is our duty to support programs that encourage the pursuit of plumbing as a profession. It is particularly exciting to be partnering with Tools & Tiaras, whose purpose is to empower ambitious and determined young women to knock down the social barrier of entering these trade professions.”
The multi-day vocational camp featured female participants, ages 13-17, who were interested in learning more about the skilled trade industry. The plumbing workshop was one of several programs throughout the week designed to teach the girls about careers in the construction trades and STEAM through hands-on projects. Attendees were provided instruction and participated in a hands-on plumbing workshop led by Tools & Tiaras founder Judaline Cassidy. Campers also had the opportunity to practice installing kitchen and bathroom faucets provided by American Standard. The event helped bring to life the Tools & Tiaras mission to empower girls to lead and succeed in male-dominated trades such as plumbing.
“As a woman in the plumbing industry, I’ve fought many of my own challenges with confidence and grit along the way,” said Cassidy, a union plumber by profession. “I founded Tools & Tiaras to give back to my community and empower girls to develop the skills and courage to enter the trades themselves. I want them to know a career in the trades is both rewarding and possible, reminding them that jobs don’t have genders.”
Through workshops and camps, Tools & Tiaras’ mission is to change the way society views and portrays what constitutes "women work.” The alignment of the two organizations is part of LIXIL’s Trade Up effort, a program created to help raise awareness of the skilled labor gap in the United States by supporting programs that inspire more people to pursue plumbing as a viable career option.
