Industrial News

Panolam, in addition to being the North American market leader and innovator in the decorative laminate panel industry, has now dramatically expanded its product offerings in high pressure laminate (HPL) surfaces and thermofused melamine (TFM) panels. On March 1, 2006, Panolam completed its acquisition of the outstanding equity securities of Nevamar Holdco, LLC, the parent of Nevamar Company, LLC. Together with its existing Pionite® HPL business, the acquisition of the venerable Nevamar® brand gives Panolam a strong network of distributors to service the market with exciting designs and innovative products.

As a central component of its growth initiative, Panolam plans to hire new regional product managers (specification reps) for ten important market
territories in North America, including Atlanta, Baltimore-Washington, Charlotte, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Montréal, New York City, San Francisco and Southern California. These reps will be responsible for promoting Panolam’s complete family of brands and products to architects, designers, specifiers and major corporations, and securing project specifications.

According to Robert J. Muller, Jr., chairman, CEO and president, in order to ensure that Panolam’s customers receive quality support from its representatives, successful candidates for these positions will be experienced in specifying products to architectural and design firms, along with having a strong existing knowledge of the territory and its A&D community.

“We are very serious about attracting the best and brightest talent in our industry. Architects and designers deserve nothing less than in-depth information and product knowledge to help them select the very best decorative surface solution, both from a design and a performance standpoint,” Muller stated, adding that products such as Panolam’s recently-introduced FRL® fiber-reinforced laminate are perfectly suited to meet the “high-performance” requirements designers are seeking in surface applications for hospitals, schools, government buildings and transportation equipment.

“The breadth of our expanded brands enables us to offer practical, cost-efficient solutions for essentially any surfacing challenge the designer might encounter – products that also happen to look great. It’s the reason we characterize our company as the one ‘where design meets innovation,’” Muller said in a reference to Panolam’s new corporate tagline.

“These are exciting times for all of us at Panolam Industries,” Muller added. “Through innovative products, great design and a strong distribution network, we look forward to growing all of our brands of high pressure laminates and thermofused melamine, and invite other talented industry colleagues to join us in this successful endeavor.”

Interested candidates are invited to learn more about the available Regional Product Manager/Specifications Rep positions, and the required qualifications, by visiting www.panolam.com.

About Panolam Industries International, Inc.

Panolam Industries – Where Design Meets Innovation™ – is a market leader and innovator in the decorative laminate industry. The company’s products, which are marketed under the widely recognized and respected Panolam®, Pionite®, Nevamar® and Pluswood® brand names, are used in a wide variety of residential and commercial indoor surfacing applications, including kitchen and bath cabinets, furniture, store fixtures, case goods and other applications. High pressure laminates (HPL), thermofused melamine (TFM), fiber-reinforced laminate (FRL™), Leatherlam®, Conolite® aircraft laminates, and Panolam’s engineered laminates are utilized as durable and economical alternatives for natural surfacing materials such as wood, stone and ceramic.

As the most vertically integrated laminate manufacturer in the North American market, Panolam produces decorative surfaces that offer unparalleled cost-efficiency, quality, variety and flexibility to customers. The company markets and distributes its products through a geographically diverse network of approximately 300 distributors worldwide. Web site address: www.panolam.com.