Low Cost Mass Housing Construction

WALL-TIES & FORMS AND THE TAGOS GROUP SIGN PARTNERSHIP
AGREEMENT TO BUILD QUALITY LOW COST HOUSING THROUGHOUT AFRICA

HOUSTON, TX – August 10, 2010 – Wall-Ties & Forms, Inc. (WTF Formwork Systems) and The Tagos Group, LLC (Tagos) have signed a partnership agreement to immediately begin construction on low cost, mass housing across the continent of Africa to assist local governments and private investors in addressing a critical shortage of safe, affordable housing. Wall-Ties’ aluminum formwork system provides a poured concrete construction system that guarantees rapid construction of energy efficient, disaster resistant, quality residential and commercial, single and multi-level structures. Wall-Ties and Tagos have committed to train and utilize local, unskilled labor and source local raw materials to be used in the construction process to further contribute to the development of the local economy.
“I have traveled Africa extensively and I am acutely aware of the chronic need for quality, affordable housing,” said Rodney Ellis, Vice Chairman of Tagos. “Tagos is pleased to partner with a company like Wall-Ties that is so thoroughly committed to bringing quality, affordable and rapidly deployable low cost housing construction to the region using local labor, resources, and raw materials.”
The Wall-Ties formwork system is unique because it forms all of the concrete in the structure including walls, floor slabs, columns, beams, stairs, window details, balconies and various decorative features in exact accordance with the architect’s design. The Wall-Ties system allows for unskilled labor to construct concrete structures at a very rapid pace. The formwork system has been used in the construction of hundreds of thousands of structures including single story, low-rise, and high-rise construction. It has been proven to be very successful in the construction of mass housing worldwide. The formwork system can be erected by local unskilled labor and without the need for hoisting cranes. The largest panel weight is no more than 32 Kg (70 lbs). The panels and other sections are secured and fixed by steel pins and wedges and formwork ties. The only tool required is a hammer. It is fast, simple, adaptable, and very cost effective making it ideal across much of the African continent.
“Wall-Ties has been working in Africa for the past several years and we recognize the significant need for low cost mass housing,” said Charles Engelken, President of Wall-Ties. “Tagos has an extensive network of contacts and relationships across the continent of Africa, developed over many years of involvement in the region. We look forward to working with Tagos to strategically focus our combined efforts to deliver an economically sound low cost housing solution to areas in Africa experiencing the highest housing shortages.
Tagos is a Houston, Texas based organization providing business consulting and world class supply chain services. Tagos focuses on operational efficiency, logistics and warehousing, supplier sourcing and management programs for large organizations. Tagos has focused in Africa on the introduction of innovative solutions that accelerate the adoption and utilization of practices that address social, environmental or economical needs.
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Wall-Ties & Forms, Inc., based in Shawnee, Kansas, is the world's largest aluminum formwork manufacturer and supplier in the world and is the premier designer of aluminum concrete forming systems and concrete formwork accessories. In business for more than 34 years, Wall-Ties now produces and ships more than 30 million aluminum forms ties a year and over 300,000 aluminum concrete forms to 45 countries worldwide. The state-of-the art construction formwork, technology and support of Wall-Ties building systems allows the contractor to create a monolithic concrete structure that is unsurpassed in energy efficiency and strength.

The Tagos Group, LLC, based in Houston, TX, provides value to Fortune 500 companies through two core divisions – Tagos Business Consulting and Tagos Business Products & Services. Tagos provides companies with extensive environmental, sustainability, procurement and supply chain support. Additionally, Tagos provides access to an extensive network of strategic alliance partners and experts. The Tagos Group is certified nationally as a minority-owned firm.


Contact Information:


Mr. Charles Engelken
Wall-Ties & Forms, Inc,
913.441.0073
www.WALLTIES.com
charlese@wallties.com

Ms. Shanna Graves
The Tagos Group, LLC
713.625.7510
www.TAGOSGROUP.com
sgraves@tagosgroup.com