75 years and still growing

By Emma Peterson. 

The latest company milestones include a bold new shingle color and the construction of IKO's eighth North American plant. 

2026 marks the 75th anniversary of IKO Industries’ operations. And over those decades, IKO has grown a lot. The story starts back in the 1950s in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with Isidore Koschitzky founding the company. Their first manufacturing plant was located in Brampton, Ontario and produced rolled roofing and shingles. As the years went on, IKO continued to grow and quickly became an industry leader. In the 1960s they were the “first shingle manufacturer to process its own asphalt on site” and in the early 1970s they opened a new manufacturing plant in Ham, Belgium.  

By the 1980s, IKO had opened their first factory in the United States – located in Wilmington, Delaware. Later, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a plant would be opened in Sumas, Washington featuring IKO’s first four-wide laminator, another would be opened in Danville, Illinois to process glass fiber and then another one opened in Clarksville, Tennessee for glass mat manufacturing.  

Today, IKO continues to build upon that legacy. Diana Swigert, their marketing services manager, shared a bit about that in a recent interview with Megan Ellsworth from the 2026 Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Association’s (FRSA) show.  

The first thing Diana highlighted was their newest colorway – Blackstone. She described it, saying,  “It’s our darkest color that we've ever come out with at this point, but it’s not just black. It's a blend of dark granules with just a touch of gray to give it a stunning depth.” This color is currently available for the IKO Dynasty® collection, which is distributed throughout Canada and the United States.  

The other big announcement that Diana spoke about in her interview was the development of IKO’s next manufacturing facility! She told Megan, “Outside of Jacksonville, Florida is a town called Clay Hill and it’s the location of our eighth manufacturing plant in North America. The creation of this plant is in response to the demand of roofing shingles and we’re just really proud to be building on the legacy of IKO!” 

Want to hear more about IKO, their new color Blackstone or their new facility? Check out Diana’s full interview!