International Irex calls Lancaster home

Irex Corp. is hardly a household name in Central Pennsylvania, but its origins can be traced to one of the best-known companies in Lancaster County.

Irex began life in 1958 as Armstrong Contracting and Supply Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Armstrong World Industries Inc.

In the late 1960s, Armstrong decided to divest itself of certain businesses that did not fit into its "interior world" concept. According to W. Kirk Liddell, president and CEO of Irex, the subsidiary's employees went to Armstrong and asked to buy the company, with financing to be provided by the corporate parent. Armstrong agreed, and in 1969 the North Lime Corp., as Irex was then called, was …