Atlas Celebrates Groundbreaking of Its Newest Manufacturing Facility

In April 2023, Atlas Roofing announced project New Horizons — a new, $200 million shingle manufacturing facility in the Midwest. A few months later, on a sweltering day in August, the company broke ground on a 150-acre plot of land in the City of Clinton, where the 500,000-square-foot plant will be constructed.

The more than 50 attendees included Atlas employees, local media, representatives from the Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa Finance Authority (IFA), Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and City of Clinton, as well as Iowa State dignitaries, Sen. Chris Cournoyer and Rep. Tom Determann, and Clinton Mayor Scott Maddasion, who spoke at the event.

“This project is not just a production factory in our [Lincolnway] Industrial Rail & Air Park, but this project is part of the continued livelihood of our community as a whole,” Maddasion said. “It’s an opportunity for our residents to work at a top-notch facility, to have high-quality jobs out here in our rail park and have the ability to grow with Atlas as they grow here as well.

“Not only are we getting a great business, but we’re getting infrastructures spread to places in our community that desperately need it.”

Specifically, the area will be getting new roadways, a new public railway installation with a dedicated spur running into the industrial park and new utility substations.

We Love Iowa!

Following the mayor’s address, Warren Hood, chairman and CEO of Hood Companies Inc. (Atlas’ parent company), discussed how the new shingle manufacturing facility is an investment in Atlas and the State of Iowa.

“We are so excited ... to be in Iowa,” he said. “[Hood Companies has] other facilities in the state — an expanded polystyrene facility in Washington and a packaging facility by Hood Packaging, which is a sister company, in Sibley. Between those two plants and what we’re going to do here, we’ll probably have upwards of 350 employees in the State of Iowa. We love Iowa! It is a wonderful site, a wonderful community, and we hope we’ll make it better and be a good partner in the community.”

“This is our field of dreams, but we’re going to turn it into a reality. It’s going to be one of the most modern, most technologically advanced facilities in North America.”

Building the Future

Ken Farrish, Atlas’ outgoing president, and Ken Roberts, its incoming president, also spoke at the event — about the company’s commitment to the industry and its vision for the future, respectively.

“It is with great pleasure today as I step away from this role to know that it’s in such great hands with people that really, really care about Atlas, about the Hood organization [and] about the people,” Farrish said.

“[We are pleased] to partner with Clinton to bring ‘Products with Purpose and People with Passion’ to Iowa,” Roberts followed. “Those are the two pillars that Atlas competes on, and you see it come out in everything we do.

“Clinton is going to be a proud addition to our 33 manufacturing sites and 2,000 employees that we employ as part of our overall North American manufacturing footprint.”

An Essential Industry

Stan Bastek, vice president of sales and marketing for Atlas, discussed how the construction industry was an essential business during COVID, pointing out that Warren Hood and Ken Farrish made the decision to keep running Atlas’ factories to make sure it had the inventory to service its customers and ensure its employees had a paycheck for as long as possible.

“This is the industry that Atlas is investing in and that the City of Clinton is investing in together to support an essential industry,” Bastek said.

He also talked about the derecho (high-wind storm) that blew through the Midwest in 2020 and the damage it and other major storm events over the past three years left in their wake.

“We’re not just replacing an old roof — we’re putting people back together, putting their homes back together to protect them.”

Community and Commerce

“The significance of [this groundbreaking event] goes beyond just the construction process,” said Debi Durham, director of the IEDA and IFA, who concluded the day’s speeches. “It symbolizes a commitment to growth, to embracing cutting-edge technology and creating job opportunities that will have a positive ripple effect throughout our great community and our state.

“Our research has shown that we need 42,000 housing units — rooftops — by the year 2030. And you’re going to help us meet that goal.”

Innovation at Work

The investment in New Horizons will allow Atlas to fulfill the growing demand for reliable, high-quality roofing materials, including Pinnacle® Pristine shingles featuring Scotchgard™ Protector and Pinnacle® Impact shingles featuring UL 2218 Class 4 impact resistance, Scotchgard™ Protector and 3M™ Smog-Reducing Granules.

The new manufacturing facility, which is anticipated to be a three-year project, will be Atlas Roofing’s biggest plant in its Shingles and Underlayments Division.

For more information about Atlas and all of its product offerings, visit AtlasRoofing.com.