BAC Officers Attend New Jersey AAC Plant Groundbreaking

Groundbreaking at cutting-edge facility creates more than jobs for BAC members. From left to right, BAC President John J. Flynn, President and CEO of Trustone America Steve Gervasio, Local 5 NJ President Joseph DiRenzo, and BAC Secretary-Treasurer Jim Boland.

BAC President John J. Flynn and Secretary-Treasurer Jim Boland joined Local 5 New Jersey President Joe DiRenzo, Vineland, New Jersey Mayor Perry Barse, and Trustone America’s CEO Steve Gervasio at a groundbreaking ceremony in January to mark the construction of Trustone America’s manufacturing plant in the Vineland Industrial Park. The new manufacturing facility, financed in part by $1 million in municipal funds secured by Mayor Barse, and a $500,000 incentive loan from the Cumberland (NJ) Empowerment Zone, is due to be completed in late spring and will produce Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC), a lightweight masonry building material used in the construction of solid masonry walls.

ACC, developed in Sweden in 1923, weighs considerably less than traditional concrete block, and is seen as a means to reduce strain on craftworkers who install it. “This is cutting edge technology in the United States,” says Trustone CEO Steve Gervasio, “although it’s been used in Europe for some time. Because Europe doesn’t have as many forests as this country, they learned to apply this technology much sooner than we did.”

BAC has been working with producers to increase AAC’s use in the U.S. to expand work opportunities. Those efforts are paying off, as President Flynn said at the groundbreaking, “This Trustone ACC plant will create 30 high-wage full time jobs for Vineland residents by the end of the year, and as many as 500 BAC construction jobs throughout the region.”