Celebrating 75 years by looking forward

By Jenny Yu.  

With new plants, colors and sustainability programs, IKO Industries is laying out the groundwork for its next 75 years. 

At the 2026 International Roofing Expo (IRE), Karen Edwards of The Coffee Shops™ met with an all-star lineup of IKO Industries leaders to discuss the manufacturer’s newest solutions and company updates. 2026 marks 75 years of incredible history and legacy for the family owned and operated company, and the panelists showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, the conversation focused less on looking back than it did on building forward.  

Expanding operations with new manufacturing plants 

First, Jack Gottesman, director of marketing for IKO, shared some big moves that IKO made toward the end of 2025 and continues to unfold in 2026. “Last summer, we opened a metal roofing plant in Texas, and we broke ground in Missouri for a granule plant,” Jack stated. “Then, over the next couple of weeks, we're going to be opening three new manufacturing facilities, and more are on the way.” 

One of the newer plants will be dedicated to manufacturing wet chopped fiber, the raw material that goes into fiberglass mat, as well as a fiberglass mat plant just a mile away. The addition of these plants, located in Chester, South Carolina, contributes to IKO’s commitment to being a vertically integrated company. Furthermore, a new shingle manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, Florida, marks the company’s eighth in North America alone. 

Keeping up with color trends 

IKO also took the opportunity to show off some of its newest shingle color offerings: Old Style Weatherwood, available in the Dynasty and Nordic lines, and Harbor Black, available in the Dynasty line.  

“Harbor Black is one of our darkest color blends in our Cool Colors Plus™ line, which is actually really difficult to achieve because of solar reflectivity,” Dyana Sweigart, marketing services manager, explained. “We’re really happy with this color blend. It's been received very well in the marketplace, and we're always just looking to launch new colors and keep up with the demands in the marketplace.” 

Sustainability in each business component 

As consumers and building codes continue to demand products that meet higher environmental standards, IKO is integrating sustainability into its business decisions, not only at the company level but in each business component as well. 

Darren Rafter, IKO’s director of sustainability, shared how the company recently formalized its sustainability program and released it to the public in September 2025. “This was really exciting because we talked about what we're doing at our plants in terms of recycling shingles, commercial roofing recycling, and integrating solar panels and energy resilience, all while engaging our suppliers and customers,” Darren shared.  

Overall, the panel emphasized the driving motivation behind these exciting developments.  “Everything that we do, we do it for the roofers that are here, and of course, the homeowners, who are the end customers,” Jack expressed. 

Watch the full interview to learn more about what’s coming up next for IKO Industries!