Sekisui Voltek and Coldwater: A Partnership Powering Growth and Community Engagement

Coldwater and Voltek Video

Public Power Partnership Drives Business Growth

Founded in 1969 as the Foam Corporation of America, Sekisui Voltek has evolved into a leading manufacturer of foam roll goods. Voltek develops, manufactures and distributes polyolefin foam products for medical, general industrial, automotive and aviation markets.

“I would say you probably have about an 85 percent chance you’re going to run into our products because it’s just so widely used,” said Mitchell Brock, Chief Operations Officer and Vice President of Operations for Voltek.

While these products may not be recognizable to most consumers, they include everything from EKG pads in hospitals to automotive door panels and laminate flooring.

Voltek has operated in Coldwater since the 1970s and chose to consolidate its operations there in 2020, citing the city’s centralized Midwest location, proximity to major automotive manufacturers and the availability of land for expansion. In 2022, Voltek announced the construction of its second plant in Coldwater, a $39 million investment known as the Endeavor Project. This new facility leverages the most advanced foam manufacturing technology and positions Voltek for future growth, with room to add additional production lines as demand increases.

For Voltek, the decision to expand in Coldwater was made easier because of its strong partnership with the City of Coldwater and the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities (CBPU). Officials at CBPU take pride in the responsiveness and personal service they can provide Voltek and other businesses, and Voltek’s leadership emphasized the value of being able to pick up the phone and reach utility staff directly.

“I know I can pick up the phone and call the utility director and call many different employees,” said Jeff Budd, Chief Financial Officer for Voltek. “And having that personal connection, that’s the benefit of public power.”

CBPU’s commitment to reliability is important to Voltek’s success. The utility has invested in a new substation that allows Voltek’s facilities to receive power from two different sources, significantly improving reliability and future-proofing operations against outages.

CBPU’s support goes beyond supplying reliable electricity. The utility has worked closely with Voltek on water, wastewater and telecommunications needs, and it even provided a transformer from its own stock to keep Voltek’s Endeavor Project expansion on schedule when supply chain delays threatened to slow progress.

CBPU was also able to help Voltek reach its sustainability goals. Voltek’s parent company, Sekisui Chemical, had set a goal of achieving 100 percent renewable energy use at its plants before 2030. Through CBPU’s EcoSmart Choice^® program, provided in partnership with AMP, Voltek was able to meet this goal in 2023.

The partnership between Voltek and Coldwater is a testament to the power of municipal utilities to foster business growth, innovation and community engagement.

“I truly think that the relationship between the utility and any customer is the key to success,” said Paul Jakubczak, CBPU Director of Utilities and a Member of the AMP Board of Trustees. “From a residential customer, all the way up to our largest industrial commercial customers, we [CBPU] treat them all the same ¾ we’re responsive to their needs, and we’ll answer any questions that they might have.”

Watch the video about the relationship between Sekisui Voltek and the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities above.

About the Campaign

Throughout 2025, AMP plans to feature AMP Member utilities and the local businesses they serve in the Public Power is Good for Business multimedia campaign. The campaign will produce a series of videos with the goal of promoting the benefits of public power from the perspective of commercial and industrial customers, highlighting the reliability of public power, as well as the variety of businesses that operate in AMP’s Member communities. It will also illustrate the reasons public power communities are an attractive option for businesses.