Byhalia Chamber luncheon

Marshall County is the location of the first United States manufacturing facilities of ROXUL and ROCKFON, producing stone wool insulation and ceiling panels.

Leslie McLaren, with government affairs and corporate communications, ex­pressed gratitude at a recent Byhalia Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon for those who helped make the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park location a reality for the two companies. She included the Marshall County Indus­trial Development Authority and the board of supervisors for their vision and help in locating the companies near their expanding markets for insulation and ceiling panels.

The products are all made from stone. She said unlocking the secrets inside the stone and converting waste into useful building materials is the art behind the companies’ success.

Peter Regenberg, vice president of U.S. operations, provided a brief sketch of the history of the Danish company ROCKWOOL that was started in the 1930s.

He said the company is “all about stone wool, the only thing we do,” he said.

Three production facilities are located in North America – one at Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada, one in Ontario, Canada, and the third in Marshall County.

ROXUL started in North America in 1988 with the first North American production starting in 1995. The North American companies continued expanding production and came to Marshall County in 2012. The local facility has been in production two and a half years.

ROXUL has been experiencing double-digit growth since 1998, Regenberg said. The U.S. market for its product is enormous, he said.

Marshall County’s ROXUL facility is the baseline for future market expansion in the United States, he said.

The company makes insulation for residential and commercial buildings, including walls and roofing, basements and ceilings.

The product is fire retardant and acoustic in properties as well as water resistant and mold and mildew resistant.

The commercial interior and exterior wall and roof insulations can be installed quickly.

ROXUL, in northwest Marshall County, operates three shifts and employs 150 people. No time has been lost from accidents and the company looks out for and takes care it its employees, Regenberg said.

“We are looking for pro-active employees,” he said.

The positive economic impact on the community is considerable and no complaints have been lodged by any neighbors, he said.

“We make a product that contributes to the global environment,” Regenberg said. “Our company policy is that we do not want to cause issues and we want to comply with the environment.”

He said the companies audit themselves for compliance with environmental regulations.

“We try to keep everything inside the factory and its boundaries,” he said. “All stack emissions are incinerated. The facilities contribute almost no waste to the landfill. The facility also consumes waste from other industries.”

ROXUL collects runoff rain water and uses it in the facility. Its commitment to recycling means that the manufacturers think about their global environmental footprint and keep it as small as possible.

It operates on strict goals to reduce emissions such as carbon dioxide and water from its manufacturing processes, and to reduce water consumption another 10 percent in coming years.

The investment in Mississippi came to $42 million, so far, Regenberg said.

The ROCKFON facility, under construction, will also run three shifts and produce 230 kinds of ceiling panels.  ROCKFON will primarily produce suspended ceiling panels and sell the suspension system, which is produced in Illinois.

Chris Marshall, vice president of marketing and business development for ROCKFON, said the heating and cooling and other components are usually suspended above the ceiling grid, then the ceiling grid system is installed and stone wool acoustic panels are installed in the grid.

The ceiling panels reflect light, do not absorb moisture and are fire resistant.

Prior to moving manufacturing of ceiling components to North America, the ceiling panels were manufactured in Europe, in countries like Poland and Russia, and imported here.

Producing the ceiling systems here will reduce the use of fuels to import the materials, he said, helping reduce the overall global environmental  footprint.

“It’s really a game changer