TAMKO Building Products recently celebrated its 70th anniversary in business, as well as all the employees, customers, and suppliers that have helped the company reached this amazing milestone. More than seventy years after its founding, TAMKO is one of the largest independent providers of commercial and residential roofing products, decking and railing products, waterproofing, cements, and coatings in the United States.
The company
was founded back on March 9, 1944 by E.L. Craig, the grandfather of David Humphreys, TAMKO's current president and CEO. Craig founded TAMKO in an old
streetcar barn in Joplin, Missouri, and the business began with a single
production line. Craig's wife, Mary Ethel Craig, named the company TAMKO for
the first letters of the five states the company anticipated as its sales
territory— Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. After her husband's
death, Mrs. Craig assumed leadership of TAMKO in 1954.
The couple's
daughter, Ethelmae, oversaw TAMKO during the 1950s and continues to be the
company's chairperson. Her husband, Jay Humphreys, become TAMKO's president in
1960 and managed the family business for the next 33 years. During this time, he
added manufacturing plants in Phillipsburg, Kansas in 1969; Tuscaloosa, Alabama
in 1975; Knoxville, Tennessee in 1976; Frederick, Maryland in 1978; and Dallas,
Texas in 1985.
Following
his death, his son David Humphreys assumed the role of TAMKO's CEO and
president in 1994. This was the same year the company changed its name from
TAMKO to TAMKO Building Products to represent the company's focus on roofing
products. Under the leadership of David Humphreys, the company has continued to
grow at a rapid pace and live up to its mission to provide quality products and
superior service. Though the company has vastly grown, it remains headquartered
it Joplin, Missouri, where it all began. It now has manufacturing facilities
and warehouses located across the country to best serve its customers.
To learn
more about TAMKO Building Products and its legacy, visit www.TAMKO.com/aboutus.
