Versatex has opened a 2,000-square foot training center at its factory and company headquarters in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. The training center’s programs are designed to teach industry professionals about the properties and potential benefits of cellular PVC products, including millwork and architectural trim, with hands-on experience, third-party performance data, and expert Versatex sources.
“If you’re in residential home building, you need to understand the properties and attributes of modern, low-maintenance materials,” said Versatex CEO John Pace in a recent tour of the new center. “Industry professionals tell us it can be difficult to separate marketing hype from useful information. We decided to take the initiative and build a dedicated facility where they can receive training—work with our products, review third-party independent performance data and talk face-to-face with the people who manufacture and fabricate profiles from cellular PVC.”
The Versatex Training Center offers presentation and meeting spaces for up to 60 people, a full-scale mockup structure equipped with Versatex trim products, and views of the manufacturer’s two-acre product storage area and 125,000-square-foot factory.
Among the center’s formal programs are an AIA Continuing Education course focused on compound blending, sheet extrusion, and recycling, as well as the updated 2018 Versatexpert Training Program for stocking dealers.
“We believe in contributing to the growth of the building-products industry through education and innovation. So we engineer bridges across knowledge gaps, helping builders and contractors discover how our products and programs can reduce field labor and jobsite waste, thus improving their performance and, ultimately, their bottom lines,” says Pace. “We’re equipped for all the orientation sessions and technical, administrative and safety training that a well-run organization needs to accommodate. In the long run, our customers and industry allies will benefit from the high performance and positive attitudes we’re reinforcing.”
