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New glass manufacturing plant opens in King George County industrial park
New glass manufacturing plant opens in King George County industrial park
By CATHY JETT
Date published: 4/9/2005
N A FIELD that once yielded ears of corn, machines are turning sheets of glass into windshields.
Their hisses, hums and thumps create a metallic cacophony inside American Glass Industries Inc. The fledgling auto-glass manufacturer opened recently as the first tenant in King George County's industrial park.
Already, stacks of replacement windshields cut and molded for Chevy Astro vans and dozens of other popular makes sit on specialized carts that owner Nick Lahijan, 54, bought from Chrysler after the automaker shut down its auto-glass plant in Detroit.
"In the last 15 years, we're the only company that has put this kind of business in the United States," he yelled over the din of the machines. "It's because we believe we can produce and manufacture them competitively in the United States."
Many auto-glass repair and replacement companies buy windshields from foreign countries where labor is cheap.
Chrysler, for example, closed its Detroit glass plant three years ago partly because it was costing the automaker $135 to build a windshield for the Dodge Neon, while an outside supplier was selling the same product for about $35, according to a 2002 Detroit Free Press article.
But Lahijan said the fact that his windshields won't have to be imported will be a factor in his favor. Delivery time will be days instead of months, for one thing, meaning companies won't have to tie up money in inventory.
Customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico also wouldn't have to pay the stiff tariffs that apply to windshields imported from China since all three countries are covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"In Mexico, glass is much more expensive than it is here," Lahijan said. "China has to pay a 23 percent import tax to export to Mexico. We wouldn't have to do that."
And offering a Made in the USA product appeals to many American companies, he said.
Glass Doctor, a chain with a number of locations in this area, recommends that its franchises buy only American-made replacement windshields because they fall under U.S. quality and safety guidelines, said Melissa Hamblett, spokeswoman for the Waco, Texas-based company.
Lahijan, who immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1976, also owns five Auto Glass Outlet stores in Washington, Northern Virginia and Maryland. They provide on-site windshield replacement, using other manufacturers' parts.
Date published: 4/9/2005
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