Headwaters Inc (HW)

Description:

Headwaters Incorporated ("Headwaters") was incorporated in Delaware in 1995 under the name Covol Technologies, Inc. In September 2000, its name was changed to Headwaters Incorporated. It provides products, technologies and services in three industries: light building products, heavy construction materials and energy technology. It generates revenue by selling building products such as manufactured architectural stone, siding accessory products and concrete blocks; managing and marketing coal combustion products ("CCPs"), which are used as a replacement for cement in concrete; and reclaiming waste coal. It conducts business mainly through the following three reporting segments: light building products ("Headwaters Building Products", or "HBP"); heavy construction materials ("Headwaters Resources", or "HRI"); and energy technology ("Headwaters Energy Services", or "HES"). HBP produces light building products that minimize waste, conserve natural resources, and/or use less energy in manufacturing or application. It operates businesses in siding accessories, manufactured architectural stone and concrete blocks. HBP has positions in several light building products categories and is comprised of the following key businesses: Tapco, Eldorado Stone and Southwest Concrete Products ("SCP"). Tapco is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of siding accessories as well as professional tools used in residential home improvement and construction. In addition, Tapco recently introduced an innovative cellular foam polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, trim board product. Eldorado Stone is a producer of manufactured architectural stone. Eldorado Stone product line is designed and manufactured to be one of the most realistic manufactured architectural stone products in the world. SCP is the largest manufacturer of concrete block in the Texas market. It offers concrete based masonry unit products and employ a regional branding and distribution strategy. HRI is the nation's largest manager and marketer of CCPs, which includes fly ash as a construction material replacement for portland cement. CCPs, such as fly ash and bottom ash, are the non-carbon components of coal that remain after coal is burned. HES focus on reducing waste and increasing the value of energy feedstocks, mainly in the areas of low-value coal, oil and liquid fuels such as ethanol. HES owns and operates coal cleaning facilities that separate ash from waste coal to provide a refined coal product that is higher in Btu value and lower in impurities than the feedstock coal. Resin-based siding accessories and its ancillary products are distributed throughout the United States and Canada through four main distribution channels: one-step distributors that sell directly to contractors, two-step distributors that sell its products to lumberyards and one-step distributors, retail home centers/mass merchandisers, and manufactured housing. Cleaned coal is sold to electric power plants; however, it could also be sold to other industrial users of coal and as a metallurgical grade coal to coke producers. Brands include "Tapco Integrated Tool Systems," "Mid-America Siding Components," "Builders Edge," "Atlantic Premium Shutters," "Vantage," "The Foundry," "InSpire," and "WellCraft." The raw materials purchased for resin-based siding products include polypropylene and styrene pellets as well as PVC. Competitors include: Ply Gem and Pinckney, Lafarge North America Inc., Boral Material Technologies Inc. and Cemex. Its operations and those of suppliers and customers involved in coal-based energy generation, utilities, are subject to federal, state and local environmental regulation.