KANKAKEE, Ill. — IKO hosted roofing contractors, employees, community leaders and company officials from around North America to the grand opening ceremony at its new shingle plant in Hillsboro, Texas, last week.

The company’s latest production facility completes the company’s manufacturing footprint in the United States, allowing it to better serve and build upon the customer and homeowner base in the southwest.  IKO opened its first US asphalt shingle plant in Wilmington, Delaware in 1981.

Keith Lowe, vice president of U.S. sales, said the 250,000 square-foot production and warehouse facility is a continuation of IKO’s long-standing tradition of building in U.S. and is a vital component of the company’s long-term strategic expansion plans.

“IKO has built more modern facilities and invested more in our technology in the past twenty years than anyone else in our industry,” said. “We are proud of the effort and resources that we’ve invested in better serving our U.S. customers.”

The facility will employ 65 people locally, with the possibility for future expansion to meet consumer demand. The project was announced in 2015, shortly after the company opened its IKO Southeast facility in Sylacauga, Alabama.  IKO’s future plans include reinvesting in Canada. Plans are already underway for the construction of a new facility west of Toronto, Ontario, modernizing IKO’s first plant in eastern Canada, built in 1958.