Sto Corp celebrates its 35th year in the U.S. According to Sto’s President of the Americas, Dave Boivin, now in his 11th year at Sto, the company was formed in the U.S. in 1979 to sell insulated wall systems to the U.S. market. It began as a New York sales company and management quickly realized that they could not import products from Germany and be successful in the U.S. To compete in this market, Sto’s first U.S. plant opened in Rutland, Vt. The area was chosen because it was centrally located to large population centers of Canada and the U.S. in a 500 mile radius.
The company was first called Sto Energy Conversation Company, as high energy costs after many years of oil embargos erratic supply were making Americans very conscious of their energy consumption. “Later, as the pressure on energy prices subsided, architects seemed to migrate to the advantages of the insulated wall systems in regards to aesthetics and design flexibility,” said Boivin. “Sto products were highly regarded from the beginning for their quality and the excellence of the German product engineering. Sto provided innovative solutions for large ornamental type projects, such as casinos, hotels and theaters, which showed integral architectural detail. Architects and owners quickly saw our systems as a cost effective alternative that was aesthetically pleasing.”