1987
The Beginning Of The Road
Harry Raymond was a man ahead of his time. The late resident of Lock Haven (Pennsylvania) was well known in the region as a home builder, having been a general contractor for 60 years. He was a Kiwanian, a Mason, a Jaycee in his younger years and a member of the board of Lock Haven Hospital. He also developed RAY-CORE Inc. in 1987 with his son, Jeff. His business manufactures energy saving building panels in the Beech Creek Industrial Park. The business of home building isn’t something the elder Raymond takes for granted. He’s busy readying things for future generations, "we just can’t continue to make houses the way our grandfathers did". -THE EXPRESS
1992
Some Friendly ‘Competition’
The company’s exterior wall panel is on display at a home erected at the Clinton County Fair this week... One reason building product companies like county fairs, is consumers often require lots of hands-on education to grasp the advantages and value of new building products, which may offer a major break from ways of building that have been traditional for generations. For RAY-CORE, the educational curve is even greater in the foreign countries, including China, Japan and the Czech Republic, where it is looking into selling its panels, said Holley Groshek, director of export development at SEDA-Council of Governments, which is helping the start-up firm explore exporting. That’s because, unlike here, homes in those countries are usually made with brick and mortar instead of wood, she explained. Yet government officials in many counties are scurrying to find less expensive and wasteful building methods, she added. In China, for example, officials would rather use soil used to make bricks for farming. Groshek praised RAY-CORE for making investments companies often shy from, like paying to take part in foreign trade shows. With her agency’s help, RAY-CORE had a display at the Pennsylvania booth at the Japan Home Show in October. “Those are the things that catch attention,” she said, adding that RAY-CORE’s emphasis on “quality” is another plus, since it’s the password to many foreign business circles.
-SUN GAZETTE
1995
Local Firm Designs Foam/Plastic Panels to Outperform Wood
More than seven years ago, Lock Haven builder Harry Raymond decided the future demanded a new – and better – material for constructing quality homes and small commercial buildings. Now he’s embarking on a major marketing campaign to sell the product he believes will fit that need: RAY-CORE panels. Raymond and his associates conceived and designed the RAY-CORE panels themselves. “Now we have a registered trademark,” Raymond says. “We recently had a fourth patent issued. We have a patent in Canada and several pending. It has taken us a long time to bring the product to market because we went through an exhaustive testing and development process. We came up with prototypes and then designed the equipment that could build them.” The panels have been load-tested at Bucknell University and the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory. They have also been fire-tested and measured for insulation value and screw pulling. The panels meet – or exceed – all requirements. The RAY-CORE plant can manufacture about 40 panels a day – enough to construct a small home. Since the process is not labor intensive, RAY-CORE employs only five workers to make the products... The licensing process has begun, and Raymond has received business inquiries from Japan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Finland, and Canada, as well as from across the U.S.... - PENNA BUSINESS CENTRAL
1996
This House’s A Snap
The experimental house under construction at the grounds of Armstrong World Industries’ Innovation Center in Lancaster features 4’ x 8’ polyurethane foam-core panels. These come to the job site in sections and (as project Chief Dick Fantazier demonstrates) are simply snapped together, replacing the customary wood studding and batt insulation. Called the Susquehanna House, the 2 ½ - story single-family residence is a virtual learning lab for studying new products and building methods. RAY-CORE Inc., a Beech Creek, Pa., outfit that makes patented polyurethane foam panels that are key to the project. Typically, an exterior wall requires a wood frame and an exterior vapor barrier with insulation in between. The foam panels can perform all three functions, and aren’t as prone to flood damage as fiberglass can be, RAY-CORE chief Harry Raymond says. What Raymond’s firm has to offer to the project are insulated wall panels that are stronger than traditional walls, protect better against the elements and provide a better insulation.
- WALL STREET JOURNAL
1997
Dwelling On The Future
Though change has been slow in home building, the industry is pushing ahead into the 21st century – with a few successes. Many architects, contractors, building suppliers and environmentalist are struggling to push the home-building business into the 21st century – or at the least the latter half of the 20th – with new technologies, construction methods and materials that might make houses more affordable and more comfortable. There have been a few successes. Homes have become safer and more energy efficient. Builders have adopted new products. In an experimental house in Pennsylvania, walls are made of stiff, heavily insulated RAY-CORE foam panels that can be snapped into place, cutting down on wood and energy consumption as well as construction costs...
-LA TIMES
1998
RAY-CORE Teams With White House
RAY-CORE Inc. has been accepted to team with the White House and other government and private sector companies in an effort to improve technology in housing in this country. Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) is a public/private sector initiative which seeks to expand the development and utilization of new technologies in order to make American homes stronger, safer and more durable, more energy efficient and environmentally friendly; easier to maintain and less costly to operate; comfortable and exciting to live in. What makes the RAY-CORE panel unique is that the company has taken three labor tasks that are traditionally performed at the job site and combined them into one. A highly insulated RAY-CORE home will save the homeowner up to 50 percent on heating cooling costs for the life of the home.
1999
RAY-CORE assists On An Energy Efficient House
In June RAY-CORE Inc. (Beech Creek, PA) and Superior Walls of America manufacturer Advanced Concrete Systems Inc. (Middleburg, PA) teamed up on a new home for the Tri-County Pennsylvania Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Habitat organizers were drawn to using these two systems because of their superior energy efficient thermal performance. ABC Oil Co. (State College, PA), Which provided the forced-air heating system for the home, has estimated annual heating costs at less than $200 annually because of the home’s tight envelope. This was particularly attractive for the local Habitat chapter, since the recipients of these homes have in some cases been unable to afford to heat them after obtaining their dream of homeownership. RAY-CORE panels were used in the walls and roof of the structure. Volunteer workers had little trouble learning the basics of setting the 4’x8’ panels, which come with 2x4 studs 16” o.c. Studs are surrounded by a polyurethane foam core that offers an R-value of 26 and are faced with a foil radiant vapor barrier. Not only are these panels easy to install for unskilled laborers, they also require no special tools and because of their light weight (approximately 48 lbs. per panel), no crane was needed during the set.
- BUILDING SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
2007
A Loss In The RAY-CORE Family
Harry Raymond (founder of RAY-CORE) was working on a new vision for the business when cancer intervened. As the disease progressed, it forced Harry to slow down and back off from business expansion a little. Harry passed away in 2007, almost a year to the day that his wife died, but thanks to his grandson, the dream lives on and is thriving...
-THE EXPRESS
2008
RAY-CORE’S Success Due To Strong Local Housing Market
After two months of preparing the new plant in Idaho Falls, Harry's grandson revives RAY-CORE Inc. and is doing a fine business in today’s energy conscious market. RAY-CORE, Inc., the only company manufacturing structural insulated panels (SIPs) with wooden studs molded directly into the panels, started manufacturing in Idaho at the end of July. Within two weeks, the company had sold 1,000 panels... “The housing market is strong here, and there is a colder climate. There are innovative builders in the area. Our reception has been excellent.”
- REAL ESTATE
2010
Building A Dream
RAY-CORE on site of yet another Habitat for Humanity home; Cyndi Fitzpatrick was pinching herself Friday as volunteers raised the exterior walls, made of RAY-CORE panels, of her dream home. By November; the house will be complete and Fitzpatrick and her three children will become the recipients of the 21st local home built by Habitat for Humanity, Idaho Falls. Once Habitat homes are complete, the organization sells the house to the recipient family at cost, often extending zero-interest loans to help families manage the payments. The RAY-CORE panels were an ideal fit for Habitat’s volunteer workers. Not only were the panels easy for unskilled laborers to work with, they required no special tools and because of their light weight, no crane was needed.
-THE POST REGISTER
2011
Built From The Ground Up
Even in the middle of the worst economic downturn in decades, RAY-CORE is a profitable and rapidly growing corporation. RAY-CORE has become an international business with orders shipping throughout the U.S., including Hawaii, and to countries such as, Canada, Africa, and China. Coming full circle, this past summer, RAY-CORE shipped a sizable order to Croda, Inc. in Mill Hall, Pa., a former customer from RAY-CORE’s early research and development days. This past fall, RAY-CORE teamed up with the global charity organization Mercy Ships, which is using RAY-CORE panels in movable buildings that are being shipped to Sierra Leone, a country in west Africa, to support doctors helping underprivileged individuals receive quality health care in a sanitary setting. RAY-CORE received an award on Feb. 1 at the SBDC’s 25th anniversary celebration banquet. The SBDC is housed within the college of Business and Economics branch of BSU. - THE EXPRESS SUSQUEHANNA SUNRISE
2012
New Manufacturing Facility
RAY-CORE is blossoming in the economy that is doing anything and everything possible to save money! We have moved into our new beautiful facility to help accommodate our growing demands.
-THE POST REGISTER
2016
Sustainable Solution
With energy efficiency at its core, RAY-CORE is proud to have been selected as the structural insulated panel of choice for the University of Minnesota's 6,700 sq. ft. Tashijan Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center. The new building meets National B3 Sustainability Standards as well as State of Minnesota Sustainable Building 2030 requirements. The University's Minnesota Landscape Arboretum explained, "This state-of-the-art venue will showcase the vital importance of bees to agricultural and humanity on the planet. Reflecting University of Minnesota environmental and agricultural research, the center will feature exhibit areas on the social behavior of bees, their vital role as key pollinators of our fruits, vegetables and flowers, the human health benefits derived from bees and bee products and ways to promote bee health."
Over 30 Years and Still Growing
Largest Structural Insulated Panel Manufacturer
Over the years, RAYCORE has become the largest Structural Insulated Panel SIPs manufacturer from a single location. Producing hundreds of projects each year, RAY-CORE SIPs ™ are the most reliable and trusted SIPs product on the market. We warrant that for the lifetime of the structure.
