Responding to increased demand from the company’s south-western customers, Viracon, the country’s largest single source glass fabricator, has opened a new US$35 million fabrication facility in St. George, Utah. The new 210,000 square-foot location is a comprehensive full-fabrication facility located a short distance from Las Vegas.
“At Viracon, we pride ourselves in meeting the needs of our customers,” says Brad Austin, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Viracon. “In recent years, we have had customers asking for glass availability in this area as the population continues to escalate in the South and Western United States. This new facility will enable us to meet those needs.”
The St George facility is already working on its first major project, a 76-acre mixed use mega-development called CityCenter, on the Las Vegas strip.
The new Viracon plant features state-of-the-art technology and was designed to maximize energy efficiency. The plant uses only electric power fueled by highly efficient heat pump systems. The glass portion of the structure features Viracon’s own highly efficient hybrid Low-E product, called VRE-57. The facility features two high-tech insulating glass lines as well as tempering, laminating, coating and silk-screening production lines. Lines are equipped to process a standard width of up to 84 inches. The facility will increase Viracon’s glass fabrication capacity by approximately 20 percent.
“We anticipate our most popular product to be our hybrid VRE line of products,” says Bill Wright, vice president of operations at the St. George plant. “The VRE family of coatings is ideal for hot, sunny southwestern climates because they offer high light transmittance with reduced solar heat gain.”
Located in the Ft. Pierce Industrial Park at 1630 East Park Industrial Drive, the new facility currently employs 150 people. Over the next two and a half years, that number is expected to grow to 275 employees as the plant becomes fully operational.