Fuyao to unveil its first glass

It’s a key milestone in the ongoing revival of a plant that saw years of dormancy after GM left it in December 2008.

The glass will be displayed at a Dayton History exhibit at Carillon Historical Park next to a white GMC Envoy, the last vehicle produced at the Moraine plant when it was a General Motors assembly operation.

The presentation will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Carillon Park, which can be accessed via entrances off South Patterson and Carillon boulevards in South Dayton.

At the ceremony, the commemorative windshield will be signed and placed into Dayton History’s displays, the coalition and Fuyao said.

Mike Davis, development director for Moraine, recalled how local and state officials united starting in 2013 to create a home for Fuyao in the former GM plant.

“It’s an historic day,” Davis said. “I’d say Thursday will be a monumental moment that kind of redefines the former plant, helps establish a bright and innovative future for the city and our region moving forward.”

The Chinese auto parts producer purchased 1.4 million square feet of space at the plant for $15 million in May 2014 after creating Fuyao Glass America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuyao Group. GM shut down automotive work at the same plant nearly six years earlier, in late 2008.

Fuyao has 18,000 employees worldwide. With a target of more than 1,500 Moraine employees at full operational scale, Fuyao Glass America will employ 400 people at the local plant by the end of 2015, coalition and government officials expect.

For decades, the plant — and earlier plants there between Kettering Boulevard and Ohio 741 — was home to manufacturing operations for first Frigidaire, then GM. High gas prices, the Great Recession, GM’s then-approaching bankruptcy and other issues led to the closure of the last Dayton-area plant devoted to full vehicle assembly.

“The plant has seen so many lives over the past 50 to 70 years,” Davis said. “I think that Fuyao and the production of this glass is a true testament to the city, our region and our workforce’s adaptability.

“When you consider all that, it just speaks volumes to what our community and our workforce are able to do.”

Fuyao took the Moraine plant over to serve its customers in the United States, including Honda, GM, Chrysler, BMW, Ford and other automobile producers.