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Security-Luebke Expands with New Location

Security-Luebke has moved!

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Security-Luebke Expands with New Location

Transcribed article copy:

Security-Luebke Roofing celebrates move to ‘recycled’ facility

By Brian Roebke Editor

Security-Luebke Roofing likes to talk about recycling, and they can even recycle roofs. That company, which was founded in Appleton in 1958 and moved to Kaukauna 11 years ago, celebrated its move into a portion of the former Giddings and Lewis building in Kaukauna last week with a ribbon cutting cere- mony and open house, in effect recy- cling an entire building.

That building was constructed in the early 1900s and has largely been vacant since Giddings and Lewis closed shop in the mid-1980s.

With the move, Security-Luebke Roofing tripled its office space to 9,000 square feet and shop space increased to 20,000 square feet.

Troy Ribble, president of Security- Luebke Roofing, said they’ve been working with the City of Kaukauna and Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce to get the complex of buildings back revitalized.

“The ultimate form of recycling is here,” he said. “Taking these old buildings and revitalizing them.”

He thanked all of the employees and contractors for making it happen before cutting the ribbon to officially open the facility.

Congressman Reid Ribble, former president of the company, then said a few words.

“I can’t help but imagine that my dad would be really proud at this moment,” he said. He started the company back in the 1950s and it was a privilege to be a partner with his brother Rick for 20 years and then pass the business on to his nephew Troy for the third generation of ownership.

“To see all of you, it’s really quite heartwarming,” he said.

Congressman Ribble said small businesses create 68 percent of the jobs in the country and this company has been creating jobs for many years and continues to do so. “It’s part of the American dream, it’s part of what drives our nation’s economy,” he said.

“Companies just like this one, expanding just like this one, and operating the way this company has.”

He said being in Congress is a lot different from being in the roofing business. While on the floor of the House of Representatives, one of his colleagues recently slapped him on the back and said to him, “I bet this sure does beat peddling roofing, doesn’t it, Ribble?,” but he said it really doesn’t.

When he “peddled roofing,” he was on the front line of creating jobs and supporting hard-working families and it was honorable thing to do and something the Congress should be looking to help.

Congressmen Ribble then led a prayer before everyone headed off to the tent for some dinner.

The company moved to the Kaukauna Industrial Park 11 years ago when Reid Ribble built the building on Progress Way and leased it to Security-Luebke Roofing. However, the company was so tight on space they looked for other options and bought the Hyland Avenue complex in 2006.

“It was sitting empty and it didn’t seem to make sense to keep renting that when we needed space and we owned this empty one here,” Troy Ribble said.
Security-Luebke Roofing started to move out of that building beginning in May and it was sold to Capital Equipment and Handling in July.

Troy Ribble said he, his brother, and his father bought the entire complex in 2006 separate from Security-Luebke Roofing as an investment, hoping to revitalize it.

“We’ve got a vision for it,” he said. “We want to see it really turn into a manufacturing part of the community again.”

The site was marketed for the last 30 years as large industrial space, but that failed miserably. The Ribbles found there weren’t big users out there looking for space, but they did find small “mom and pop” type shops or family businesses.

They knew Security-Luebke Roofing didn’t need 200,000 sq. ft. but they needed 20,000 sq. ft. They realized there were many different parts of the building that could be broken into smaller areas so they could draw some of the businesses in.

They’ve had some success, but the nation’s struggling economy hasn’t helped. They now have 18 different ownership units there, of which eight are now occupied and providing jobs in Kaukauna.

The city is in the process of creating a TIF district to help spur growth within the complex, and there is some interest.

Troy Ribble hopes to fill the site with manufacturing facilities, “having Americans making products right here in our backyard.”

He thinks manufacturing is the key to getting the economy back on track.

He said these units are selling for a lower cost than purchasing a standalone unit.

“For this space here, if Security-Luebke Roofing was to purchase this as it’s been renovated, we’d be looking at right around $23 a square foot,” Troy Ribble said. “It’s pretty hard to beat, and you certainly couldn’t build anything close to that price.”

They use the shop area for storage of its equipment, materials, and they do some sheet metal work for the components for the roofing business. Security-Luebke Roofing does residential, commercial, industrial, and church roofs.

“We’re uniquely positioned that way because of our history,” Troy Ribble said. “We have residential experts, we have com- mercial experts. The residential guys stay on the steep stuff and the commercial guys stay on the flat stuff.”

Today, there are a lot of different roofing products for people to choose from and Security-Luebke is set up to handle all of them.

Now there are metal, plastic, rubber, asphalt, and other different kinds of products.