AFG
 “We
looked at more than 30 sites in five states before deciding to locate
a $30 million glass coating operation in Washington County. Key
to our decision was this region’s professionalism, aggressiveness
and interest in our company.”
Ed
Wegener
Abingdon Plant Manager
AFG
Industries, Inc.
AFG Industries, Inc.,
the second largest glass manufacturer in North America, began operations
in its new 150,000 sq. ft. facility in May 2004.
Located in
the Oak Park Center for Business and Industry in Abingdon, Virginia,
the new plant employs 80, operates three shifts and produces low-emissivity
and solar control glass coatings designed to reduce energy costs.
“While Washington
County was competitive, the real key in our decision was the interest,
professionalism and aggressiveness of the team from the community
and the state,” said Ed Wegener, AFG’s Abingdon plant
manager.
Wegener said the aCorridor
team “made us feel exceptionally welcome” and provided
his company with the confidence that this $30 million capital investment
had found a home that would be very successful.
Virginia Gov. Mark R.
Warner announced in February 2003 the new glass coating operation
would locate in one of the state’s Enterprise Zones in Abingdon.
The Virginia Department of Business Assistance provided workforce
training services.
Wegener said the region
and the state offer unique assets including “a well-educated
labor force, a solid quality of life for our employees, excellent
transportation for us to ship to our customers, and a solid commitment
from the leadership of the community and the state to make this
successful for all of us.”
 AFG,
with its headquarters in Kingsport, Tennessee, is a part of the
Flat Glass Company of the Asahi Group, the largest flat glass manufacturer
in the world. AFG produces coatings that are also used to coat front
surface mirrors such as projection televisions, touch panels, plasma
displays and solar panels for geothermal and photovoltaic uses,
and electrochromic coatings for future “smart” windows.
AFG has spent a significant
amount of research dollars to develop the low emissivity glasses
and the “smart” window of the future. This window will
track the sun on a given day and the windows will shade themselves,
depending on the amount of energy the homeowner wants to come into
a room, both manually and automatically.
“Eventually we want
to develop windows that become fully integrated into the whole-house
energy system, in which a computer chip will tie all the house systems
together. For example, today you can place a phone call and turn
lights on or off in your house, raise the temperature in your house,
or set the security system. The windows, we believe, will be part
of that package in the future.”
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