Founded in 1956, this family-owned company started as Van Top, a small business making countertops for kitchen and bathroom displays.

VT Industries says its primary goal is to help its customers be confident in choosing architectural doors and countertops. "VT Industries has partnered with [its] fabricator and distributor customers to ensure two things: the highest-quality product available and the best customer service in the industry," it says.

Founded in 1956, this family-owned company started as Van Top, a small business making countertops for kitchen and bathroom displays. The company's dedication to "impeccable craftsmanship and attention to detail" quickly spread and VT became one of the leading manufacturers of fine laminate countertops, wood cabinet doors and architectural wood doors. Today, the Iowa-based company has seven facilities across the United States and Canada.

"It's really a 'started-in-a-garage' story," says Rick Liddell, senior vice president of sales and marketing at VT.

Liddell says two things set VT apart from other companies. First, Liddell says, VT is known as a product innovator that offers the highest quality and aesthetic products in the market. Additionally, he says that the company earns high marks on customer service. "We focus on our customers, we try to treat each individual by understanding and catering to their needs," Liddell states. "We don't just treat them as numbers."

Reaching Full Quality
VT says it has always provided the highest quality standards that customers can expect. "Whether [customers] are restoring a historic building or want to add the perfect detail to a new design, [customers] will find the elegance and beauty in [architectural] doors," VT explains. "[The company] offers the highest-quality product, aesthetic compatibility and design integrity."

It recently built the doors for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center, a hospital located at Bethesda, Md. "The [Hatfield Center's] building design reflects dual priorities, accommodating the latest medical technology while providing a comfortable environment for patients and researchers," VT says.

"The [company's] five-ply wood veneer doors for the Hatfield Center varied in size to meet [the hospital's] needs." The company manufactures high-pressure decorative laminate (HPDL) flush doors, five-ply wood veneer and stile and rail doors.

VT says HPDL doors are a favorite of architects and builders because the material requires "no on-site staining, sealing or painting, and the costs of maintenance is minimal." The company adds that HPDL doors are the well-known choice for the healthcare industry. Because it has a matte finish, VT says, this type of door resists fingerprints, scuffs and stains, and prevents the growth of bacteria.

"HPDL doors can be used throughout the hospital industry as a functional, durable and economical product," the company explains. "[It] is available with laminated end rails, to completely seal the door to minimize the presence of harmful molds and bacteria in healthcare facilities or other applications where a smooth, impermeable finish is desired."

The company says five-ply wood veneer doors "provide a stylish solid-wood appearance with an upscale European edge design." VT says this door sets the company apart from its competitors because:

· Its hot-press technology provides consistent quality.
· The matching hardwood edge applied after beveled core assembly results in seamless wood appearance.
· It withstands the one-million-cycle slam test.

According to VT, its stile and rail doors offer outstanding features that customers expect from the company. It is manufactured with pre-drilled pilot holes for hinges and faceplates, and it has fire ratings of up to 90 minutes to meet life safety issue standards. "When [customers] are looking for stile and rail doors to fit [their] projects, [customers] look no farther than the flawless design and impeccable craftsmanship of VT," the company says.

Cutting-Edge Countertops
VT says it prides itself in leading in the postformed decorative laminate countertop industry. Postforming, VT explains, means "the countertops are formed as a single piece with a rolled front edge and an integral backsplash."

The laminate is heated and bent into a curved particleboard that produces a surface that does not collect dirt and stain. "Postformed laminate countertops have been around for decades," VT notes. "But never have they offered such superior aesthetics and value. Not to mention durability."

Additionally, the company says that postformed laminate countertops do not require polishing and resealing unlike most countertops.

The company also recently introduced the Wilsonart High Definition DeepStar laminate on its laminate countertops. "WilsonartHD features the subtle use of both matte and gloss finish with patterns that are organic in appearance," VT says.

This blend, the company says, provides three times the wear resistance without the cracks and crevices that collect dust. Additionally, VT says it now offers more options for upgrading kitchen countertops with its Fleetwood II Series. The company says this its hardwood edges will complement various cabinet and wood styles.

"Before, we only offered a red oak edge in the ogee profile," Liddell said in a statement. "Our expanded Fleetwood II Series is available with 3/4-inch-thick red oak, maple, cherry and hickory hardwood edges in a choice of ogee, ovolo and bevel edge profiles." Fleetwood's features include:

· Unique wood veneer edge on a countertop with a postformed laminate cover
· Match or complement cabinetry in a choice of wood species - maple, cherry, hickory or oak
· Square profile for custom shaping
· Three-factory-milled profiles available

Liddel adds that the Fleetwood series has the advantage of a laminated countertop with wood edges that are made from the same materials used for cabinets. "It incorporates the best of both worlds," he says. Unfinished Fleetwood countertops are shipped from the factory so they can be made to match kitchen cabinets, the company says.

"Kitchen and bath dealers and installers are very skilled at staining and finishing these edges to exactly match their cabinet brands," Liddell states. "It's a terrific upgrade in appearance and functionality, but without a significant increase in cost. That's important to builders and homeowners.

Always upgrading to the latest technological innovation, VT says its trust remains with its employees.

"We really do pride ourselves on utilizing the most technologically advanced equipment available, but we also recognize that computers and technology cannot fine-tune everything," VT adds. "That's why we have people manually inspecting veneers, even though they arrived in our factory pre-sorted."

Additionally, the company says that employees inspect doors at each work station. "This allows us to correct a door at any time during the manufacturing process if it doesn't meet our quality standards," it states.

VT also involves its employees in the manufacturing of its products. Lidell says the company consists of "JobShots" - a self-directed work teams to get the products done efficiently. "A JobShots team meets at the beginning of its shift and focuses on ideas that will affect productivity, quality of product, customer service and safety," he notes. "This provides employees with the opportunity to lead the company by using their knowledge and expertise in affecting positive changes."

VT says that it believes in its products so much that it offers a lifetime warranty. "Not everyone does that," Liddell explains. "They'll have a limited warranty and they'll replace the door or refund the money. But we will literally replace the door, including re-hanging and re-finishing costs."

However, Liddell says that VT does not encounter the situation very often because of the proven quality of its products. Additionally, VT says it adheres to the industry's codes and standards.

"Codes and standards are always a concern in the manufacturing process," the company says. That is why VT's fire-rated doors are manufactured to meet the positive-pressure requirements for fire doors. "More and more areas of the country are adopting UBC 7-2-97 and IBC 2000 code requirements for positive-pressure fire doors," VT explains.

Instead of having the neutral pressure plane located at the top of the opening, doors are tested with neutral pressure located at 40 inches above the finish floor, the company says. VT has met this demand by developing fire doors that meet ITS/Warnock Hersey Category A guidelines, meaning that "no additional edge-sealing system is required," Liddell states.

"In order to maintain aesthetic quality as well as life-safety requirements, VT goes one step further, concealing intumescent material behind our stile edge so every door has the same, seamless appearance."

In addition, VT says that it is committed to keeping the cost of its products as low as possible. The company says it uses lean manufacturing to deliver superior products at competitive pricing.

"To keep waste at a minimum, [VT] employs every possible means of lean manufacturing - from reusing scraps of core materials to heating [its] plants with sawdust inevitably left over from the manufacturing process," the company says.

Seeing Green
VT says that the company is environmentally conscious and takes steps to be responsible in the workplace. "From environmentally friendly adhesives to water-based stains, [the company] is committed to meeting and exceeding, when possible, the requirements to eliminate hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds," VT emphasizes.

In VT's quest to be environmentally safe, it says that it is constantly adapting its manufacturing techniques, which include:

· Forest management through selective harvesting
· Using structural composite lumber as an approved hardwood material for stiles, rails and core materials in particleboard core.
· SmartWood, a program of the rainforest Alliance, certifies VT as a chain-of-custody supplier to help customers become environmentally responsible.
· Using flush wood door manufacturing

The company also manufactures doors with agrifiber cores made from rapidly renewable agricultural fibers.

The company says agricultural fibers are based on successful fire tests and are made from materials such as wheat straws, soybean straws and sunflower hulls. VT noted that the fibers are bonded together with urea formaldehyde-free resins that meet LD-2 particleboard standards.

"[VT] meet and exceed the requirements to eliminate hazardous air pollutants, volatile organic compounds and particulates emitted into the atmosphere," the company explains.

Hall of Famer
Roger Clausen, founder of VT, was inducted into the kitchen and bath industry hall of fame during the May 2005 Board of Directors gala at the National Kitchen & Bath Association conference.

"Clausen is recognized for founding VT Industries and for pioneering the postformed laminate countertop industry," the company states. "[His] innovation, leadership, commitment and extraordinary dedication to the kitchen and bath industry earned his hall of fame honor, and places him among an elite group of industry leaders."