LUCKEY — It was not just luck that brought the new NSG (Nippon Sheet Glass) float glass plant to Luckey.
It was a team effort of hard work and cooperation that the site was chosen among locations in four
different states.
Dan Knecht, the Luckey plant manager, praised the cooperative effort at the official groundbreaking
ceremony held at the site on Wednesday morning.
The site will be the future home of a 500,000-square-foot float glass plant, which will provide 150 new
manufacturing jobs at 21601 Pemberville Road in Troy Township.
Company officials, including Todd Huffman, NSG Group Overall Project manager are excited about the
facility.
“This is the first such new plant built in the last 40 years,” Huffman said.
Dick Altman, NSG Group regional director, said the new Luckey facility is part of a $350 million
investment for NSG. The company is also working on a project in Vietnam.
“This will add quality manufacturing jobs here in Northwest Ohio,” Knecht said.
Wade Gottschalk, director of Wood County Economic Development was at the groundbreaking.
“This is a great project and a tremendous asset to the entire community,” Gottschalk said. “It reinforces
our case and solidified us as the glass capital of the world.”
Knecht noted the history with Libbey Owens Ford in Rossford, which later was purchased by Pilkington and
is now under the NSG banner.
“NSG has a long history in glass manufacturing in the area,” he said.
The new facility is targeted to open during the last quarter of 2020 on the 130-acre site.
Float glass is a sheet of glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal, typically tin,
although lead and various low melting point alloys were used in the past. This method gives the sheet
uniform thickness and very flat surfaces.
The glass being made will mostly be used by the new First Solar plant for its solar panels. They will be
made at its new manufacturing center under construction in Lake Township.
“This is a great partnership with First Solar in making the TCO (transparent conductive oxide) glass that
is an essential part of the solar program,” Altman said.
Among the numerous dignitaries on hand was U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green.
“This is a great day. I am not surprised they chose this site. We have a great work force here and we are
within one day’s drive of 60% of the U.S. population. It showcases what we can do here in America’s
backyard,” Latta said.
He presented company officials with a flag which has been flown over the nation’s capital.
Wood County Commissioner Doris Herringshaw spoke about the quality of the company, which she learned
about on a tour of the Rossford plant.
“We are very pleased about this new technology coming to Wood County, especially such a well-respected
company. We are proud to have them as part of Wood County,” Herringshaw said.
Glenn Richardson, managing director of JobsOhio, said the 150 jobs are well paying.
“This is highly technical glass and we forecast this will bring $7 million in additional payroll,” he
said.