As Fuyao readies for ‘grand opening,’ it has more than 2,000 workers

As Fuyao readies for ‘grand opening,’ it has more than 2,000 workers Workers prepare a new Fuyao Glass America exhibit hall at the company’s Moraine plant. At left is a Cadillac XT5 fitted with Fuyao-produced glass. THOMAS GNAU/STAFF

By Tom Gnau

As Fuyao Glass America prepares for its grand opening Friday, the company is celebrating a trio of significant milestones.

The company’s Moraine auto glass production plant now has more than 2,000 workers and may ultimately have 2,300 to 2,500 workers total, John Gauthier, Fuyao Glass America president, said Monday.

Asked what the ceiling on the plant’s potential employee number might be, Gauthier said, “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.” He added that the plant will hire as many workers as it takes to meet market demand.

When Fuyao Global Chairman Cho Tak Wong first publicly announced his interest in the Moraine plant — a former GM assembly plant — in January 2014, the expected number of new employees there was 800. He bought the plant for $15 million five months later.

Also Monday, Gauthier said the chairman recently bought a former wallpaper production facility in Plymouth, Mich. for an existing operation in Lake Orion, Mich. that adds value to Fuyao-produced glass. Some 100 to 200 people will work in that plant and eventually, it may fall under the Fuyao Glass America umbrella, he said.

Gauthier estimated that Cho Tak Wong, Fuyao Global chairman, has invested about $750 million total into American facilities, including close to $500 million just in Moraine.

Also Tuesday, Gauthier and Dave Burrows, Fuyao Glass America vice president, said the company will have a new exhibition hall ready for Friday’s grand opening. The exhibition hall will feature examples of Fuyao glass, including a new Cadillac XT5 crossover with a Fuyao glass set.

Friday’s grand opening events at the plant off Encrete Lane are invitation only. Cho will be on hand to speak and guests will be given tours of the plant, which covers some 1.7 million square feet now.

Gauthier said a special event just for employees is also being planned for the near future.

Also planned Friday is a panel discussion at the University of Dayton’s River Campus featuring Samuel Palmisano, retired chairman of IBM, Eric Spina, the new president of UD, and Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, among others.

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