National Gypsum Company, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, established its place in the building products industry in 1925 when its founders introduced a stronger, lighter gypsum board. Since then, the company has continued to introduce building products for a better future.
National Gypsum Company was founded in August 1925 by Joseph L. Haggerty, Clarence E. Williams and Melvin H. Baker. All three had worked together at the Beaver Board Company, a maker of wood fiber board. Each brought unique skills to the company and had a shared vision of creating a better product. They started their new business with $100,000 and set up shop in the basement of J & A Keller Machine Company.
They hired a small group of experienced salesmen to pitch the new product before the company even had a plant. Ten months after incorporation, National Gypsum had its new wallboard product, called National Mineral Board, rolling off the company's first plant in Clarence Center, NY. At the time the company was formed, there were 25 competitors in the industry.
Mr. Haggerty was the former vice president of Beaver Board, with a 14 year tenure there. His role with National Gypsum was research and product development. He experimented in his kitchen and created a new formulation for gypsum board to make the board lighter, stronger, and less brittle. Mr. Haggerty died in April, 1929.
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Mr. Williams was the former head of Geological Research for Beaver Board. He had options on mineral rights for gypsum at Clarence Center, NY, allowing the fledgling company to get the supplies they needed to begin production of their new wallboard product. In1928, Mr. Williams retired from National Gypsum due to failing health.
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Mr. Baker was the former National Sales Manager for Beaver Board. He brought fervor and innovation to the new company’s sales and fundraising tactics. Mr. Baker was President of National Gypsum from 1928 to 1951. He was then Chairman and CEO from 1951 to 1965, when he retired from the thriving business at age 79. Mr. Baker died in 1976.
Purchased by and privately held by the C.D. Spangler, Jr., family since 1995, National Gypsum Company now operates as a family of several companies (NG Corporate, LLC, National Gypsum Services Company, Gold Bond Building Products, LLC, Gold Bond Canada, Ltd., ProForm Finishing Products, LLC PermaBASE Building Products, LLC and Unifix Inc.) and is the exclusive service provider of reliable, high-performance building products marketed under the Gold Bond®, ProForm® and PermaBASE® brands.
Now in its second generation of family ownership, National Gypsum Company operates by its guiding principles: Honesty, Integrity, Fairness, Respect, Openness and Communication. The National Gypsum Principles define the company culture and align the core values of the Spangler family, ensuring it is always Building Products for a Better Future® for its associates, customers and community members.
On August 25, 1925, three men who lost their jobs when Beaver Board Company folded started a new company with $100,000 in capital. With their complementary skills they developed a better wallboard, sited a gypsum source, raised capital, hired a sales staff before they had a plant, built two plants, fought off their competitors, and started advertising in the Saturday Evening Post. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Despite the Great Depression, National Gypsum built or expanded several plants and quarries across the country and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It also added lime, acoustical tile, metal lath, paint, paper, fiberboard, and rock wool to the product line. It is interesting to note that the company became so concerned about the safety of its own bank between 1930-33 that it withdrew corporate deposits in gold to ensure it could pay employees.
National Gypsum was fully committed to the World War II effort. It operated munitions plants for the government, created new products for wartime applications, leased plants and ships to the military, and sent associates off to war. During the war years, the company planned for a building boom of historic proportions. After the war ended, sales quintupled over the 1930s.
After the War, Americans were starting families and building houses. The company was growing, too, to meet demand. It added sales staff to cover the country along with a rigorous sales training program. It also built five new wallboard plants, two paper plants, and two quarries and docks.
After leading National Gypsum for 40 years, Chairman Melvin H. Baker retired in 1965. The company entered the computer age and continued to expand, particularly out West, with one plant in Arizona and two in California. In 1976, the company’s corporate headquarters moved from Buffalo to Dallas, TX, and. two years later, it moved its largest division, Gold Bond Building Products, to Charlotte, NC. The company’s headquarters would ultimately be in Charlotte.
During the 1980s, the company purchased The Austin Company. A management-led group made a leveraged buyout offer to purchase the company stock. This initiated a hostile takeover attempt by the Wickes Company. A bidding war followed with the management led group prevailing with the help of Lafarge. At one time Lafarge owned 50.1 percent of the company.
In 1995, National Gypsum Company became privately owned by the C.D. Spangler, Jr. Family, which gave it new life and vitality. During the late 90s, NGC saw substantial growth with investments in new plants, quarries, product lines and technology.
After substantial capacity increases, the company enjoyed its best times during the buildup of the housing industry. Housing starts rose to over 2 million in 2005, but in July 2006, the housing bubble burst, and the wallboard industry began a steady decline in volume. By 2009, housing starts were approximately 500,000 annually. National Gypsum was forced to idle plants, reduce headcount, and make other budget reductions. The company persevered and expanded. It continued to introduce new products and increase market share.
As the housing market slowly improved, National Gypsum focused on implementing technological advancements in safety, productivity, quality and logistics across all facets of the company that would strengthen its foundation and prepare it for the future.
National Gypsum is proud of our rich history as a leader in the building products industry. As we look to the future, we will be guided by our principles - Honesty, Integrity, Fairness, Respect, Openness and Communication – as we focus on building a better future for our associates, customers, owners, communities and the environment. We will continue to bring value to our customers with innovative, quality products while practicing thoughtful corporate citizenship through our sustainability practices. As always, our number one priority will be our associates. We will continue to be a workplace that values diversity, inclusion and safety and, together, we will ensure our Company sustains and thrives well beyond our 95 years of operation.
Many National Gypsum associates “come for a job and stay for a career” - some staying as long as 40 or 50 years. The NGC Trailblazers is an organization dedicated to connecting the retirees of National Gypsum.
