Bergad Specialty Foams and Composites in Ford City will move into a second location in a former Rayburn glass factory by September.
The company makes products ranging from medical padding and pillows to specialty products for oil-drilling rigs. It is renovating the former Custom Bent Glass building at 11858 Route 85 and plans to keep its Ford City plant on Eljer Way open when the work is completed.
“We've been growing for a while,” said owner Paul Bergad. “Right now, our Ford City building is at capacity — there's no more room for new products or any more growth here. The building in Rayburn will let us add up to three times the amount of equipment and increase our production by at least tenfold.”
The company bought the property — a 65,000-square-foot factory and 12 acres — for $925,000 from NexTier Bank on March 12, according to Armstrong County Tax Records.
Mike Coonley, director of the Armstrong County Industrial Development Council, said the expansion is a good step for industry in the region. The move will bring new life to the old factory, which has been vacant for three years, Coonley said.
“We're thrilled for Paul and his company — they're a good local business that's growing,” Coonley said. “We're even happier that he will be able to take advantage of a good location in Rayburn.”
Bergad said he plans to move the company's corporate offices and a showroom into the building and build a 75,000-square-foot facility on the property within the next three years. The business now employs 20. Bergad said he plans to add at least 20 jobs within the next 18 months.
From mattresses to foam
The company started as a manufacturer of bed mattresses in 1989. About 10 years later, it changed direction when Bergad started experimenting with memory foam he was using at the business.
“We were having problems with some of the memory foam we got in, and I knew I could do a better job,” Bergad said. “I thought to myself, ‘This is chemistry, not rocket science,' and started working in a laboratory.”
Once Bergad figured out how to produce foam, the company began moving away from making mattresses.
“The consumer mattress market is saturated and fierce, so we began working toward supplying foams for other industries,” Bergad said.
One of the company's first endeavors was supplying foam to the medical industry for wheelchair seats, exam tables and surgical padding.
“Chances are, most people have encountered our products and didn't even realize it,” Bergad said. “We do a very, very broad line of foams. If someone comes to us asking for something we don't have, we actually formulate it in our labs and produce it for them in-house.”
The plant makes about 30 tons of foam per month and produces an additional 50 tons of products using foam from other suppliers.
The company makes products to dampen and control sound for headphone and audio equipment producers, surgical padding and specialty pillows for hospitals, containment barriers for the oil and gas well drillers and cushions for the automotive industry.
Bergad also developed and produced padding for the military.
“If a soldier has ever manned a turret gun, they've sat on our foam,” Bergad said.
The company has produced cushions for NASA, and Bergad proudly displays a poster of the lunar rover containing his work in his plant's conference room.
“I just think that would be the absolute pinnacle for me — to know something I made is on the moon or another planet,” Bergad said. “It's just pretty cool to think that could happen. Hopefully, we'll get there.”
Gels are the future
The company is looking toward the future by branching into polyurethane gels, which are denser than foam, but not nearly as thick. The gels can be used to help the body regulate its temperature and divert sweat, and are expected to be incorporated into several medical devices and pads.
The building in Rayburn is the key to the company's development.
“There are so many markets we haven't even touched upon because we haven't had the ability or room to do so,” Bergad said. “We're going to now have the space to increase our production, start exploring more markets and expand the way we want to expand.”
Bergad, 46, grew up in Ford City and lives in Freeport. He started working on a degree in criminology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, but did not finish. Instead, he started building mattresses for several local furniture stores. He is a self-taught mattress maker and chemist who has called Armstrong County home for most of his life.
“This is where we're going to stay,” he said. “We have room to continue to grow, so I have no intention of going anywhere else. All but one of my employees live here, and we're surrounded by good people. There's no reason to think of anywhere else.”
Brad Pedersen is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-543-1303, ext. 1337, or bpedersen@tribweb.com.
