Vinyl a choice for buildings

Fredericksburg vinyl company named one of the 50 fastest-growing firms statewide

By KATHERINE ROBERTS

Date published: 9/7/2006

With the recent housing boom, more people have been looking for fences and railings to complement their new homes.

While wood and metal still remain high on homeowners' lists, many others are looking at vinyl for its smooth appearance and lasting quality.

The Mid-Atlantic Vinyl Products company, which has manufactured vinyl products for homes since 1996, has become one of the fastest-growing businesses in the state as it meets the increasing demand.

The Fredericksburg-based company has grown 209 percent since 2001, which led to its being named one of the 50 fastest-growing firms statewide on Virginia Business Magazine's "Fantastic 50" list last May.

"Being on [the Fantastic 50] list was a real honor for us," said owner Luke Curtas.

Curtas started a fencing supply company, Thoroughbred Fencing, in 1988, working primarily with wood and chain-link.

The company started with $629 and a Dickinson tractor.

In 1993 the company began to also manufacture vinyl--and so Mid-Atlantic Vinyl Products was started in 1996. In 2002 Curtas, a native of Tampa, Fla., and his wife, Kim, sold Thoroughbred Fencing.

Now MVP distributes vinyl decking--as well as the railing, porch columns and fencing it manufactures--throughout the East Coast. MVP has a distribution facility in Atlanta.

The company has made online sales around the world, especially in the Bahamas and Puerto Rico.

The trend of replacing wood and other building materials with vinyl started in the Midwest and then came to the Southeast.

Because MVP has been in the business for nine years, "we're the innovators," Curtas said. "It's a new industry, and we're nine years ahead of the curve."

Initially, people think of vinyl as cheap and similar to plastic, said Curtas, "but we've made it look more traditional." It's easy to take care of, too--MVP calls it 'worry-free maintenance.'

"We would call it maintenance-free," Curtas continued, "but one time we had someone call to complain that it got dirty. You do have to clean it."

Vinyl's nonporous surface means that it will retain virtually no moisture. It remains just as strong as wood, and will not stain or rot.

The use of vinyl in fencing--both commercial and residential--has grown rapidly in the past few years. A projection made for the American Fence Association in 2002 showed vinyl fences made up at least 13 percent of fences built on existing homes in 2006, and that number is expected to grow.

Beyond the everyday service of producing and distributing vinyl products to homeowners, Curtas stressed that MVP's real mission is to care for the people involved in its work.

"We're here by the grace of God," said Curtas. "We're mindful of our responsibility to the customers and the community we want to glorify God through the success of our company."

To reach KATHERINE ROBERTS:
Email: newsroom@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 9/7/2006