Tectum celebrates 75 years making ceiling, wall panels in south Newark

NEWARK – Some employees who started in the 1980s were told the company would not survive much longer.

Tectum has done more than survive, despite fires, tornadoes, worker strikes and ownership changes. It has thrived in relative obscurity for 75 years on South Sixth Street in Newark.

The manufacturer of ceiling and wall panels has remained in the same 90,000-square foot building throughout its history, with the process mostly unchanged and the pride of its workers an obvious asset.

Joe Kieber, one of two 40-plus year employees, said, “I can remember the day I started. They told me don’t get too comfortable. They’re going to close the place down.”

Richard “Grubby” Stotts, who has been with the company 37 years, has a similar memory.

“I was told this was temporary when I started,” Stotts said. “And I’ve never been laid off. It means a lot for the company to still be here.”

The company celebrated its 75th-year anniversary on Thursday with a luncheon for its 120 employees.

“Today is a great landmark for all of us,” senior business manager John Kain, said. “Seventy-five years ago today, three Owens Corning engineers incorporated Tectum in Newark, Ohio.”

Despite its longevity and popularity in the building industry, Tectum has been almost invisible to many in Newark, especially compared to local manufacturers such as Owens Corning, Kaiser Aluminum, Boeing and Holophane.

“A lot of people say, 'What’s the name?' A lot of people haven’t heard of it,” 35-year employee Larry Bailey said. “It’s not a real well-known location."

Tectum started the same year the North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed, the NBA began, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences staged the first Emmy Awards, Harry Truman was president and the first jet-propelled airliner made its maiden test flight.

“Tectum was designed by a couple of engineers using old-fashioned slide rules, documented on blueprints, and from what I heard, there was a heck of a lot of trial and error,” plant manager Ray Hicks said. “And somehow they put together a system that even today is running the Tectum business in very strong fashion.”

Hicks said the process is part of the company’s success story, but it couldn’t happen without the people. Fourteen employees have been there more than a decade, six more than 30 years and two more than 40 years.

“It’s the people that make it work,” Hicks said. “Everyone that’s in this room, and a lot of people that are not in this room that came before us, is a part of that legacy. That is what makes us strong.”

A story in the April 27, 1949, Advocate, began, "A new building material which its backers believe will revolutionize the housing industry was described to Newark Rotarians at their luncheon at the Hotel Warden."

The speaker was Howard Collins, the Owens Corning Fiberglas research director.

Tectum's net sales soared from $3,765 in 1950 to more than $4 million in 1956, according to Advocate archives.

Tectum is a 75-year-old factory with 75-year-old equipment that is updated when necessary. But the sustainable, renewable, durable, sound-absorbing material is an important in the building industry as ever.

“Our product is more relevant in the marketplace than it ever has been throughout its 75-year history,” Hicks said. “We make a very unique material that is virtually indestructible.

“This is old-school manufacturing, automated to make people more efficient. When we automate, it’s to try and make people’s jobs easier.”

Hicks has been at the Newark plant for 16 months and still marvels at the production of his employees.

“In the time I’ve been here, I’ve seen this plant put out 57,000 square feet of board in a single shift,” Hicks said. “That kind of performance is absolutely incredible.

“When I see the coordination that occurs here every day to make a 700-foot continuous board mill run from the bale house to the end of the line, it is amazing.”

Kain said: “By every measure that we have, this year, 2024, will be a record year in all accounts. One of the most exciting things for me is that looking out in the future, we actually see great growth ahead for the next five to 10 years.”

The Tectum porocess has changed little in 75 years. A glue-like substance made of magnesium sulfate is applied to wood fibers from fast-growing Aspen trees. The product is sprayed, pressed, dried, edges smoothed, cut, painted and dried again, before it's shipped.

The panels, which can be attached directly to walls and ceilings, are durable, fire resistant and a noise muffler. It is used in school auditoriums, gymnasiums and music studios.

Operations manager John Slaydon said the Tectum product is made of wood but becomes fire resistant in the process.

"When architects design buildings, they can only have a certain percentage of wood in them for fire (prevention) purposes," Slaydon said. "Even though this is wood, once you put the binder on it, our fire rating goes way up.

"So, it doesn't count against your wood percentage for fire, but they count it for their wood percentage for sustainability. So, they can say we're using a sustainable product. It's a good marketing tool."

Armstrong World Industries, founded in Pittsburgh in 1860, has owned Tectum since 2017. Before that, the company was owned by National Gypsum and Stephen Mihaly.

Kain said the 2017 purchase may have caused some temporary unease among employees, but the partnership has been great.

“I’m sure there was some apprehension," Kain said. "It’s the unknown; it’s new; it’s a change. I think those concerns were quickly eliminated because of the culture of Tectum and Armstrong are very close. It makes me very proud to be part of this Tectum family. We don’t buy businesses to shut them down.”

Aron Gawne, senior director of architectural specialties operations, said Tectum has improved under Armstrong.

“Since 2017, the progress has been incredible," Gawne said. "It really has. The investments the company has made and the results this team has delivered has been fantastic.”

Hicks added: “This is a unique plant. There’s not another facility like it anywhere in the world. Tectum is the only one that makes what it makes with the kind of system that it has.”

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