PGT announces new glass plant and hiring spree coupled with two new product launches
With its new WinGuard vinyl and EnergyVue windows, the door and window supplier is embarking on its “largest product launch in the company’s 35-year history,” according to a company statement.
“As the housing market improves, so does the demand for high-quality products that help make homes both more beautiful and more functional,” says President Jeffrey T. Jackson. “At PGT, we strive to ensure our company has a positive impact on not only our customers but also our community.”
Part of that community impact includes hiring more than 300 new employees in 2014 as well as more than 50 new employees this year, which would bring the company’s total workforce to 1,700. “As part of a company-wide commitment, PGT strives to hire locally whenever possible,” reads a company statement. The majority of the new hires will work in the new glass plant that PGT opened in the fall of 2014.
The nearly 100,000-square-foot facility will support the launch of the new vinyl product lines that have been rolled out in a three-phase plan, beginning with vinyl sliding glass doors in 2011 and vinyl French doors in 2014 and culminating this year with the two new window lines.
“The new plant was built to expand our glass-making capability in light of increased demand for impact-resistant and energy-efficient glass,” says Jackson. “By 2017, demand for vinyl in the southeast United States is forecast to grow to 69 percent of all residential windows and doors and, at PGT, we want to make sure that we are not only prepared to meet the demand but also offer our customers the most comprehensive product lines on the market.”
The company is also eligible for a $300,000 grant from the state of Florida as part of the Energy Economic Zone pilot program that’s intended to help communities “cultivate green economic development, encourage renewable electric energy generation and promote the manufacturing of products that contribute to energy conservation and green jobs.” PGT applied for the state incentive funds as part of the Sustainable Energy Economic District Incentive Program. As part of its plan, the company has committed to developing products that meet an energy performance standard of at least5 percent above state energy code requirements.