Pittsburgh Glass Works, LLC (PGW) has announced the closure of its Evart, Michigan facility, a move which chief operating officer Joseph Stas blamed on the continuing decline in demand for auto glass …
Pittsburgh Glass Works, LLC (PGW) has announced the closure of its Evart, Michigan facility, a move which chief operating officer Joseph Stas blamed on the continuing decline in demand for auto glass brought about by the slump in the US auto industry. The company is responding to excess capacity resulting from the decline that is not expected to improve in the foreseeable future. PGW announced the closing of its Oshawa, Ontario Canada glass fabrication plant and its Cambridge, Ontario, Canada and Newark, DE satellite assembly facilities in December 2008. Mr. Stas said that “the Evart employees are an excellent workforce, with a very good track record of quality, cooperative teamwork and productivity performance. The employees did everything that they could to make the plant viable. Unfortunately the current severe industry downturn has resulted in an overcapacity situation that is not sustainable for the foreseeable future.” The plant was purchased from Chrysler Corp in 1998 by PPG Industries, Inc. Pittsburgh Glass Works, LLC purchased the auto glass business from PPG in September 2008. Parts currently produced at the Evart facility will be transferred to other PGW factories in North America by the end of March 2009. Evart plant operations will cease at that time.