German glass manufacturer to open plant near Pittsburgh International Airport

A German-owned glass and mirror maker broke ground Wednesday on a new development in Findlay Township.

Flabeg Corp. will open its second Pittsburgh-area plant at the Clinton Commerce Park, near Pittsburgh International Airport. The company plans to lease a 209,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to be built at the park in two phases, starting this fall. The building is expected to open in October 2009.

Axel Buchholz, CEO of parent company Flabeg Group, joined Gov. Ed Rendell, County Executive Dan Onorato and Allegheny County Airport Authority officials Wednesday at a ceremony on the site.

“Flabeg’s decision to expand its operations in Allegheny County is another vote of confidence in our region’s economy and workforce,” Onorato said in a statement. “Southwestern Pennsylvania is becoming a leader in green technology and alternative energy development, and Flabeg will help solidify that leadership position with its production of specialty mirrors for solar power plants. This is exactly the kind of cutting-edge manufacturing we want to attract to our region.”

Flabeg Corp. runs an automotive glass plant in Brackenridge that employs 198, which manufactures mirror glass for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

The new Flabeg facility will manufacture glass and mirror components for solar panels, Onorato spokesman Kevin Evanto said. The company is expected to create about 300 jobs in Findlay.

Construction will start “immediately” with an expected opening of late fall 2009, Evanto said.