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Anodizer HeAds West both sides of the country," he says. "People in the industry have always known and appreciated our products, but it's a real commitment on our company's part to put a plant in California. It sends a message that we are fully capable of serving our customers, and we are looking to play a bigger role in the industry." Promising Forecast SAF provides aluminum anodized materials used in architectural construction here in the U.S. as well as overseas. the Western and Mountain regions of the U.S. and in Canada, as well as to take advantage of overseas orders from the Pacific Rim. The California operation originally opened in 2007 as a sales office, but its plant operations now include distribution of aluminum extrusions and sheets, metal fabrication and a newly added anodizing service. According to Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects (AIA), even though growth in the U.S. economy continues to be somewhat disappointing, nonresidential construction activity is projected to see healthy gains in 2013 with construction spending for buildings rising by 5 percent this year and 7.2 percent in 2014. Construction of commercial facilities—the bread and butter for companies like SAF—is expected to lead the upturn, Baker says, with spending gains of almost 9 percent this year and nearly 11 percent in 2014, led by double-digit gains in hotel construction. "Industrial construction spending is projected to nearly match the overall nonresidential building totals this year and The batch anodizing process produces clear and two-step anodized finishes in bronzes and black hues for parts as long as 28 ft. Batch Anodizing The batch anodizing process, which involves racking parts and immersing them in a series of treatment tanks in both acid- and caustic-etched finishes, will produce clear and two-step anodized finishes in bronzes and black hues for parts as long as 28 ft. "We're looking forward to the new levels of customer service our SAF-West anodizing line enables," says James McClatchey, who led the opening of the Redding facility six years ago with five local employees and 20,000 sq ft of space. Now SAF-West operates with 25 employees in 75,000 sq ft, and the company expects to add another 10-20 employees this year. Even though SAF has already been wellknown for half a century throughout the U.S. among subcontractors, architects, design/ build contractors, owners and other manufacturers, Penn McClatchey said the company has always wanted to have a production facility in the Western U.S. "I think it makes us more of a player in the industry to have production capabilities on PRODUCTS FINISHING — pfonline.com 29