Decatur is now a leader in the automotive glass industry thanks to a $200 million investment. Fuyao Glass Illinois has been working hard to make improvements to the manufacturing plant for about two years, since buying out the PPG Company.
The President of the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County, Ryan McCrady, says the grand opening of Fuyao Glass Illinois is great news for our local economy, but also for former PPG workers that were offered jobs at the new facility.
"It really is a manufacturing, engineering type of dream at this point," says Kevin Solofra, an employee at Fuyao Glass Illinois. Solofra worked for PPG for six and a half years before becoming a manager at Fuyao Glass Illinois.
"Seeing the [PPG] business kind of drop over the years, we were wondering if we're going to have relocate again. Fuyao came in kind of gave us that opportunity right here at our home. We don't have to change anything. Our children can still continue to grow up in the same community where they grew up. That's a comforting feeling," says Solofra.
The Fuyao plant has new state of the art equipment from all over the world and is providing training for hundreds of new hires. It's all part of the company's plan to make the Decatur plant a leader in the world of manufacturing.
"This company is looking to supply the glass that goes to Dayton, Ohio, then gets fabricated for the specific manufacturers they supply. Their goal is to continue to grow the market share in the automobile glass industry in the United States and continue to supply automobile manufacturers," explains McCrady.
"I continually mention to people that there's 100 million customers within ten hours truck traffic from Decatur, Illinois," says Republican Senator Chapin Rose, "We have something in the community that no one else in the world has to offer. We need to tell that story."
The two production lines in Decatur's Fuyao plant will generate 1,000 tons of glass per day, which is enough glass for four million vehicles per year. The company says they're making the glass with high proficiency and at a low cost.
As for Solofra, it's an investment that he says hits home. "To see that someone can see the future here and start to make that investment, I think it's just the tip of the iceberg. I hope other businesses and companies see that and start bringing manufacturing back to Central Illinois."
PPG had 50 employees when Fuyao Glass bought the facility in 2014. Fuyao Glass retrained the staff, hired nearly 250 more local workers, and works with local contractors.
