Photo by Jon Mayhew
Mike Cully, with United Plate Glass, explains the glass fabrication process
during a plant tour of the Lincolnton facility Tuesday afternoon


IN A "GLASS" BY THEMSELVES
United Plate Glass cuts ribbon on facility

By Jon Mayhew


LINCOLNTON -- A Pennsylvania-based glass company with a new facility in the Lincoln County Industrial Park hopes to shatter expectations in the greater Charlotte business community. Tuesday morning, members of the Lincoln Economic Development Association joined community leaders and members of the industrial community in welcoming United Plate Glass with a ribbon cutting and plant tour.

Owners Mike and Joyce Cully currently operate a facility in Butler, Penn., which employs about 100 people. Mike Cully said he hopes the Lincoln County facility will operate....well, as smooth as glass.

"We're going to keep our business local, within the Charlotte region," said Cully. "There's plenty of business here that we can do that."

With building, land and equipment, the company made a nearly $12 million dollar investment in the county and put a modern 55,000-square-foot facility on Lincoln County Parkway.

LEDA Board Chairman Pete Acker said United Plate Glass is one of many examples of fine industries that have put both the county and the industrial park "on the map."

"Our park is a showcase and we now have a statewide reputation," said Acker.

Starting out as a small local glass distributor, UPG continually grew into a multifaceted, well diverse glass fabricator. During this decade, Bill's sons, Mike & Bart Cully along with Mike's wife Joyce took active roles in the progress of their family business. By the early 90's UPG moved from their 9,000 square foot building in downtown Butler, PA to a 22,000 square foot building a few blocks away.

In the year 2001 they opened a new 60,000 square foot building in the outer perimeter of Butler and expanded their fabrications to include a tempering furnace. In 2004 a second 40,000 square foot plant was erected and included another tempering furnace, a state of the art super spacer insulated line, and a ceramic coating line. Along with expanding their fabrication processes, their service area was increasingly growing.

With the completion of the building in Lincolnton, UPG adds a third tempering furnace, insulating line, flat polishing and hole drilling machine to their multitude of glass fabrication abilities.