Structural Building Solutions Opens Plant in North Carolina

Officials say a new manufacturing and distribution plant in Archdale should help put a dent in the housing shortage across the state, according to reporting from The High Point Enterprise.

When it gets up and running, Structural Building Solutions will crank out enough roof trusses, floor trusses, wall panels and other components to supply four or five new single-family homes per day, said company President Scott Austin.

“In a year’s time in one shift, we should be doing 1,200 to 1,500 units in a year. So it’s a lot,” he said.

The newly built, 120,000-square-foot plant off Archdale Road was developed by Crescent Communities of Charlotte to service residential builders primarily in that region, as well as the Raleigh area.

Austin said Crescent awarded the new plant its first job producing floor trusses for a large subdivision it’s developing in the Charlotte area.

Both Crescent and Structural Building Solutions are subsidiaries of Sumitomo Forestry Group, a comprehensive timber and wood products company based in Japan.

One of its major lines of business is residential construction.

It announced the $19.5 million plant, which is at 300 Roelee St., just south of Interstate 85, in December 2022, pledging to create 129 jobs by 2027.

It represents a major expansion southward for Structural Building Solutions, which currently operates a single location in Maryland.

“I hope in four weeks we’ll be able to start manufacturing and shipping product two weeks after that,” said Austin.

He said he’s looking to hire 20 to 25 people for the initial phase of operations, which will use saws and computerized equipment to turn lumber into finished products.

“We should be at 120-plus people here. Thats two shifts and I think that happens fairly quick,” he said.

The new jobs, including positions in production and assembly, shipping and receiving, will pay average annual wages of $45,782.

“We do need some experienced truss builders, floor builders, sawyers, but we also need some laborers. With the equipment being as state of the art as it is, that will help, but we definitely need our experts,” Austin said. “We try to employ architectural and engineer minded individuals that can take a 2D drawing and turn it into a 3D model.”

The project was approved for up to $395,000 in local incentives from Archdale and Randolph County, as well as $1.3 million in various state grants and training funds.

The incentives package funded the newly completed extension of Roelee Street to the 60-acre plant site and includes a grant for the future construction of a railroad spur to serve the property.