By Logan B. Anderson

CHESWOLD — The company that now owns and operates the factory that many in the community still call the PPG Building, hopes that one day soon people will call it the NVP Building.

NVP stands for National Vinyl Products, a U.S. firm that makes vinyl fence components.

On Wednesday, surrounded by local leaders and supporters, NVP officials conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for a new addition to its Cheswold-area campus. Where once PPG made paint, NVP now makes vinyl fence products and will soon have a PVC recycling center that it will use to support its current endeavors while servicing other companies too.

“We have such an opportunity to continue to move forward on what we’ve done,” said Justin Hadfield, the plant’s manager.

NVP is a Utah-based company that decided to expand its production capabilities to the eastern part of the U.S. The company originally didn’t choose to expand to the First State. But thanks to efforts of some local leaders, the company was persuaded to come to central Delaware.

Mr. Hadfield said that the available workforce in the region was the deciding factor to come to Delaware.

“The hard work, the dedication, the attitude of play to win, we’re so grateful to be part of this community. In fact, we almost were not part of this community. When we first were looking at moving on the East Coast, we looked all up and down the shoreline and we actually had chosen a spot in Maryland, and it was through the efforts of our city officials through the economic development community who actually convinced us to come here to this location. And it has been amazing. We are so grateful for that decision,” he said on Wednesday.

NVP opened in early 2020, but thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic they were almost immediately shut down.

It took the company nine months to set up three production lines, officially opening in August 2020. Since then, the company has been focuses on growing its production capability.

“We’ve continued to expand and grow and work diligently to continue to service our customers and our people to the point now we are at nine lines we have just under 100 employees, and we’re continuing to grow and we’re excited for what that’s going to bring,” Mr. Hadfield said.

Wednesday’s groundbreaking is part of the business’s expansion plan.

Once complete, the 13,000-square-foot facility will serve as a state-of-the-art raw material processing center. The facility will also house a PVC recycling center that the NVP will use in its fence products.

“Part of that helps us offset rising costs and the cost of inflation which is sort of a big deal in our industry. Really, if I look at it right now, this puts us at the right place at the right time with the right products to really succeed and do well,” said Zack Clark, NVP chief operating officer.

From the Cheswold facility, NVP ships fence components to places like Maine and Florida. The firm services large fence contractors and some retailers.

NVP was recently acquired by Barrette Outdoor Living. Barrette is a leader in outdoor products like fencing and gates, decking, railings, and pergolas. The acquisition could see more products being made in Cheswold.

The work on the new facility is expected to be done early next year, sometime in the first quarter.