Longtime ARDEX Employee Lew Rea to Retire After 37 Years
With great admiration and respect, the ARDEX family extends best wishes to Lew Rea upon his retirement from ARDEX Americas. Lew has a remarkable tenure of 37 years, and will officially end his employment with ARDEX on the last day of this year.
Lew was the very first National Sales Manager, and went on to build several of our most successful regions in the Northeast/Southeast/Mid-Atlantic. With his successful military career and extensive knowledge and security clearance, Lew has overseen the development and management of our Government and Military division. With his leadership, this division has shown sustainable growth year-over-year. Throughout his career and numerous accomplishments, his colleagues have relied upon Lew for his leadership, overall knowledge of the business, and mentor-ship.
Pictured in the image to the left (l to r) are: Jesse David, President of ARDEX Americas; Lew Rea; Lori Angelo, Vice President and CFO and Mike Crouch, President of ARDEX Americas.
Honoring Our Veterans
In honor of Veterans Day this year, ARDEX employees volunteered at the annual Veterans’ Breakfast. The event is hosted by the Community College of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. On behalf of ARDEX, thank you to all who are serving, or have served, our country.
Loba Joins the ARDEX Group
Loba joins international Ardex Group – Wakol becomes majority shareholder
Ditzingen, Germany — Adhesives manufacturer Wakol is increasing its share in Loba, a global manufacturer of surface treatments, and now holds a majority stake in the company. Wakol has been majority-owned by Ardex since 2015, and this transaction will make Loba part of the international Ardex Group.
To facilitate the transaction, four long-standing Loba shareholders have put their shares up for sale. The overriding goal of this decision is to safeguard the company’s long-term success. Therefore, the new shareholder structure consists of Wakol and Michael Fischer, who will remain as managing partner.
“By linking Loba with Wakol, we have managed to provide our company with an extremely sustainable perspective and pave the way for my succession early on,” said Michael Fischer, managing partner. “The international operations of the Ardex Group offer excellent opportunities to continue growing and to lead Loba into a successful future”.
Christian Groß, Wakol shareholder and CEO, sees the strengthening and expansion of the existing cooperation as a common goal: “Loba and Wakol have been working together excellently for over 20 years and we are now able to reinforce this even further. I am convinced that the Ardex Group offers great opportunities for both companies, whilst at the same time preserving the values and culture of a family business.”
From left to right: Mark Eslamlooy (CEO Ardex Group), Michael Fischer (Managing Director, Shareholder Loba) and Christian Groß (Managing Director, CEO Wakol)
Loba’s Ditzingen headquarters will be expanded as a development and production center for surface finishing within the Ardex Group. The treatment and finishing of wood and cork currently play a key role for Loba. Additionally, the company is expanding its activities in finishing resilient floor coverings as well as cementitious surfaces.
The company name, brand, and sales structure will remain unchanged, as well as the contacts for customers and suppliers. In both companies, the organization and personnel will remain the same. Following a mandatory review by the antitrust authorities, the transaction is expected to be completed at the latest by the end of November 2018.
Mark Eslamlooy, CEO of the Ardex Group, said the cooperation with Loba provides the company with an opportunity to expand its competence in the field of flooring systems and surface finishes: “The Loba brand enjoys a distinguished reputation and stands for technical competence, premium products and outstanding service. The strong international orientation and the extremely high level of commitment of the people involved have convinced us that Loba is the ideal partner for us.”
Wakol GmbH develops, produces and sells laying materials, industrial adhesives and sealing compounds. It has stood for premium quality and customer accessibility for over 80 years. The Ardex Group has been the majority shareholder of this family-owned company since 2015. Over 185 people are employed at the headquarters in Pirmasens; worldwide, the Wakol Group employs around 230 people. Besides Germany, Austria, Switzerland, North America and the Netherlands are amongst the most important sales markets. There are further intensive activities in Poland, Italy and Great Britain, to name a few. Wakol is also actively involved in global exports.
About LOBA
Founded in 1922, the finishing and care of parquet and hardwood floors has been the core business of the company based in Ditzingen near Stuttgart for almost 100 years. Loba also owns subsidiaries in Brazil and China, as well as joint ventures with Wakol in Poland and North America. The Loba Group currently employs around 120 people, 97 of whom work at the Ditzingen site. Technical excellence, top-quality products and the extremely well-focused customer orientation are the key factors for the success of the Loba brand in over 60 countries.
ARDEX hosts NICFI Annual Conference
We are pleased to announce that ARDEX Americas hosted The National Institute of Certified Flooring Inspectors Annual Conference at our North American Head Quarters in Aliquippa, PA on October 15th – 17th.
The Conference was well attended with inspectors traveling in from all over North America. The conference agenda was packed with industry topics presented by multiple manufacturers and inspectors. Seth Pevarnik, Director of Technical Service for ARDEX Americas presented multiple times throughout the three day event covering the topics “pH and Today’s Adhesives”, “Components of Concrete and Proper Placement” and “Concrete Slab Imperfections”.
For more information on The National Institute of Certified Flooring Inspectors, please see their website https://www.nicfi.org/
A Global Innovation Leader in High Performance Specialty Building Materials:
Recognized by installation experts, ARDEX is a global leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of high-performance specialty building products for all aspects of substrate preparation, floor covering, tile and stone installation systems and architectural concrete systems for commercial and residential applications. A family owned company, the ARDEX Group leads through local customer interaction striving for excellence in all that we do. For more information about ARDEX Americas: www.ardexamericas.com, or call 724-203-5000.
Habitat for Humanity of Beaver County
ARDEX participates in annual run for Habitat for Humanity of Beaver County
ARDEX Americas employees participated in the annual Run for Humanity, organized by Habitat for Humanity of Beaver County. Habitat for Humanity of Beaver County and their 26th Annual Walk/Run for Humanity support local communities and partner with hard-working individuals, families, and volunteers to build homes.
Thanks to ARDEX employee David Fabyonic for organizing the ARDEX team to participate. A fun day for a great cause!
Our three colleagues pictured below were awarded race medals for a winning time in their respective age brackets.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is an international, nonprofit housing organization that seeks to put God’s love into action by building homes, communities, and hope. Habitat is a proven model successfully enabling more than 1,000,000 people worldwide to move from inadequate shelter into simple, decent homes. For more information visit www.beavercountyhabitat.org.
A Global Innovation Leader in High Performance Specialty Building Materials:
Recognized by installation experts, ARDEX is a global leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of high-performance specialty building products for all aspects of substrate preparation, floor covering, tile and stone installation systems and architectural concrete systems for commercial and residential applications. A family owned company, the ARDEX Group leads through local customer interaction striving for excellence in all that we do. For more information about ARDEX Americas: www.ardexamericas.com, or call 724-203-5000.
ARDEX Americas Launches New Website
ARDEX Americas, a market leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of high-performance specialty building products, announced today the launch of its newly revamped website. Offering intuitive navigation to product information, the new website is also mobile-friendly, and features engaging images and consolidated video content.
The new website features a clean design, improved functionality and enhanced content – all designed to better serve its customers. It is located at the same address, https://www.ardexamericas.com/.
Ben Mack, ARDEX Americas Director of Marketing, stated,
We are excited to launch this new website and offer these enhanced capabilities to our customers. We believe the mobile-compatibility in particular will improve our visitor experience dramatically, allowing them to find the information and answers they need more quickly and easily, no matter what device they are using.
To serve our diverse audiences, the website is available in English and Spanish. We plan on adding French content in the next few months. We’re committed to making our information accessible to everyone in the North and South Americas.
About ARDEX, A Global Innovation Leader in High Performance Specialty Building Materials:
Recognized by installation experts, ARDEX is a global leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of high-performance specialty building products for all aspects of substrate preparation, floor covering, tile and stone installation systems and architectural concrete systems for commercial and residential applications. As a family-owned company, the ARDEX Group leads through local customer interaction striving for excellence in all that we do. For more information about ARDEX Americas: www.ardexamericas.com, or call 724-203-5000.
FLEXBONE takes the Helm!
“3rd Shift pays better than sleep”
This was the exact thing Daniel Helm; owner of Helm Construction, kept telling himself while taking on two bathroom remodels in Vestal, NY.
“FLEXBONE, not unlike every other ARDEX product out there, beats the competition. The single direction troweling to fill the surface is a big time saver and I found it to be less fatiguing.”, proclaimed Daniel.
Besides ARDEX FLEXBONE, Daniel used an array of ARDEX Tiling products for the install.
“The speed advantage of the 207 versus thinsets gets me installing faster and maximizing profits”, said Daniel in regards to using ARDEX AF 207™ Pre-Mixed, Rapid-Set Uncoupling Bonding Adhesive.
ARDEX WA™ High-Performance, 100% Solids Epoxy Grout and Adhesive in Slate Gray and Fresh Lily were used in the master and smaller bathrooms.
ARDEX Liquid Backer Board® Self-Leveling Underlayment for Interior Wood and Concrete Subfloors was poured on the entire floor in the master bathroom.
“X5 is an amazing thinset to work with, sticks to the tiles and substrates with a DEATH GRIP and keeps its’ exact form…”, said Daniel on using ARDEX X 5™ Flexible Tile and Stone Mortar.
“I can’t say enough good about your products. They are the best and I refuse to use anything else!”
Thank you to Daniel Helm for sharing this incredible bathroom remodel!
Cronin Showroom Gets a Remodel!
2,000+ square feet of ARDEX UI 720™ FLEXBONE®!
The Cronin Company in Portland Oregon recently remodeled their showroom using 4′ x 5″ Rosse wood-like plank tiles. Pacific Specialty Stoneware installer Terry Hagelberger installed the showroom floor using ARDEX UI 720™ FLEXBONE® Floating Uncoupling Membrane, ARDEX UD 146™ Edge Insulation Strip, ARDEX X 5™ Flexible Tile and Stone Mortar, and ARDEX FL™ Rapid Set, Flexible, Sanded Grout in Gray Dusk!
“Installing flexbone for easy removal when needing to remodel”, was a key factor for Terry and Pacific Specialty on choosing ARDEX FLEXBONE®!
ARDEX Americas is pleased to announce that ARDEX Tile & Stone Installation Systems is now offering a 25-Year SystemOne™ tier Warranty on select high performance products!
Click here to learn more about the entire warranty program!
