Sunhoon is looking to expand its business relationship with Lite-Form, maker of insulated concrete form systems.



Lite-Form Technologies would become a global showplace for a Korean plastics manufacturer’s patented equipment, under a proposed deal being discussed by the two companies.

Lite-Form CEO and President Pat Boeshart and Han-Ki Lee, chairman of Sunghoon Tech Co., talked about expanding their four-year-old business relationship during Lee’s recent visit here.

Lee, who is also a local elected official in the city of Seoul, Korea, visited Lite-Form’s global headquarters in South Sioux city for the first time this week.
Lite-Form’s assembly plant currently uses Sunghoon-designed machinery to make its insulating concrete form systems, which are sold worldwide for residential and commercial construction. Lite-Form also has worked with Lee and his company on various construction projects.

Boeshart and Lee said they hope to finalize plans for new ventures in the near future. Among the subjects being discussed: Lite-Form’s South Sioux offices essentially serving as a U.S. distributor for Sunghoon, which does business in 40 countries.

“It would be a showroom for plastics construction,” Boeshart said.

There’s also the potential for Lite-Form assembling plastics products as a subcontractor, he said. Rapidly rising fuel costs, which increase the costs of exports, is driving such a move.

“Transportation is becoming such a huge concern for everything,” he said.

Boeshart founded Lite-Form in 1986 after perfecting the insulating concrete forms and plastic hardware he had been using as a local homebuilder.

The patented reinforcing spacer ties hold the foam sections together. Unlike traditional wood forms, the forms remain in place, adding to the energy efficiency, strength and durability of the concrete.

During Lee’s recent visit, more than two dozen Siouxland leaders honored the foreign dignitary, who was accompanied by his wife and business associates. Speaking through an interpreter, Lee repeatedly thanked his hosts, and expressed how impressed he was with Lite-Form and other local businesses, including South Sioux City’s large meatpacking industry.

Local officials presented Lee with a series of gifts, including several products made in the tri-state region. Lee said he planned to wear a South Sioux City-themed cardinal red tie at a meeting of the Seoul city council. He chairs the transportation committee in the South Korean capital of more than 13 million people.

via Siouxland Business Journal