Topline Materials

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OUR PROCESS

• Mine Sand and Gravel
• Crush, Screen and Wash
  Aggregates
• Store in Stockpiles
• Convey to Block Plant
• Batch Concrete by Computer
  Controls
• Stamp with Block Machine
  under immense pressure
• Cure under mist and
  cover for 12 hours
• Cube for storage and
  shipment

Sand, Aggregate, Concrete Block and Ready-Mix Concrete are the base building materials for a majority of the developing world. When quality raw materials are available like in Haiti, constructing lasting structures from these materials is the most affordable and doable means to create permanent shelter.

TopLine Block - Best in Haiti from Matthew Flippen on Vimeo.

By utilizing local abundant resources, TopLine:

• Employees the maximum number of people, providing the strongest economic impact
• Enhances greatly the quality of finished products by deploying proven manufacturing methods borrowed from the world’s best practices
• Impacts the environment as little as possible by turning unusable terrain into livable acreage

THE PROCESS

Superior block is produced using high grade sand and aggregates. Our raw materials have been tested and proven to be the highest caliber.

Once mined and crushed, all material must be washed, eliminating any silt or contaminates. We recycle our water, being as efficient as possible with our precious natural resources.

Finally, our raw ingredients are ready for production and conveyed to the block plant. Automated equipment mixes the correct amount of cement, water, sand and aggregate and then forms the mixture into block using high-speed and high-pressure. Every seven seconds four block are produced meeting the International Building Code Standards. This is the only block produced in Haiti following these standards and sold at market prices.

The same raw ingredients are placed in the ready-mix plant and again automatically mixed to produce the specified concrete product.

TopLine products are produced following the strictest standards. The Block meets the rigorous requirements of ASTM C90.

HOW WE WORK

TopLine's mission is to produce superior building materials for reconstruction, contribute to economic development and fund humanitarian efforts to change the lives of the poor, delivering triple bottom line returns.

• TopLine sells products to generate funding for additional economic and humanitarian efforts in Haiti.
• TopLine aligns itself with world-class non-profit development organizations that have significant infrastructure and a long history of success working in Haiti.
• TopLine works with these partners to identify and develop scalable efforts that address the pressing economic and humanitarian needs by reinvesting a portion of TopLine profits into these projects.

STRATEGIC REINVESTMENT

TopLine's on-going reinvestment strategy is to give back a portion of profits to support sustainable communities. For example, helping fund materials for a housing development where the house lots are large enough to support small gardens for each family, each house has its own rain water collection for drinking water, each home is supplied with renewable power and all waste is recycled.

In 2010, on a relief trip to Haiti, Matthew caught a vision for serving Haiti through sustainable impact business. We began asking ourselves:

• "how can we use our talents, resources and experience to help those in need?"
  
• "how can we create lasting change in the lives’ of the poor in Haiti without going back again and again asking for donations?"
  
• "how can we be a tangible expression of God’s love to the world?"
  

TopLine was built to be a vehicle for sustainable change by producing and selling basic building materials with the overarching goal to empower communities with the skills, resources and desire to determine their own future rather than relying on handouts to keep them going.

MATTHEW A. FLIPPEN, FOUNDER & CEO
Matthew’s career includes more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience ranging from launching technology and financial services companies to acquiring and expanding a quarry and mining operation in Central Texas. In 2010, on a relief trip to Haiti, Matthew caught a vision for serving Haiti through sustainable impact business. Matthew, his wife and four children reside in Austin, Texas. Matthew earned his MBA from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management where he was a distinguished Park Leadership Fellow and his BA from Texas A&M University.

FRITZ JEAN-JOSEPH, CHIEF PRODUCTION OFFICER
Fritz, a Haitian-American, moved from Haiti to Florida with his family when he was 19. After serving in the US Air Force, he launched his career in the concrete block industry where he worked in every capacity, eventually rising to Plant and Operations Manager for Rinker (later acquired by Cemex). He is certified as a Besser Block Equipment Specialist (TopLine’s Block Production Machines). He oversaw the construction of a $7m highly automated block plant in Fort Meyers, Florida that came in under budget by $1m. He moved back to Haiti with TopLine in January of 2011 where he has been instrumental in establishing the TopLine plant infrastructure and production facilities.

ELIMELECH JEAN-JOSEPH, CORPORATE CONTROLLER
Eli has served as TopLine’s Controller since joining the operation in Haiti in the Fall of 2011. Prior to that he was Head of Accounting for E-Power, a $80m private power plant built in 2010 in Port au Prince. He has worked in financial services, specializing in accounting and financial controls, since earning his BA in Management in 2002. He brings to TopLine an important depth of knowledge in Haitian Tax Law and Employment Law as well.

THE PROBLEM
More than 500,000 houses must be rebuilt over the next ten years. Low quality raw materials and the poorest production practices were the root cause of the devastation that occurred. Over 80% of working age adults are unemployed and as a result malnutrition, child death rates and a host of other tragedies continue to stifle Haiti.

THE SOLUTION
Producing quality construction materials locally from high caliber raw ingredients creates jobs, facilitates superior reconstruction and provides homes to those that need them most.

THE RESULTS

• One 300 square foot home, costing $6,500 takes a family from a dirt floor tent where disease and sickness lurk to a safe secure healthy place where life begins.
• One TopLine plant generates enough material to construct almost 3,000 homes per year providing life to nearly 20,000 mothers, fathers, children annually.
• One plant employs 100+ Haitians providing economic support directly to 1,000 family members.
• For every 1 new manufacturing job, another 3 jobs are created in support, generating a positive economic impact to over 4,000 people.
• Strategic Reinvestment of partial profits improves overall community, job opportunity, health, wellness and education.

A PLAN OF PROGRESS
TopLine plans to distribute more than 32 million block in Haiti over the next ten years. In addition we’ll deliver more than 3 million tons of sand and gravel, plus 1 million cubic meters of concrete. But we can’t do it without your help. Will you join us?

THE OUTCOME

LASTING DEVELOPMENT
By investing in manufacturing of products that are critical to Haiti’s redevelopment, we hope to make a lasting change in the lives of those we serve, including our customers, our suppliers and our team. Providing quality wages for meaningful work gives Haitians the opportunity to rise above their circumstances. Read the stories of those impacted.