Lexington, KY - Like the 800-pound gorilla in the room that you can't ignore, the TV screen on your wall in the future may also be hard not to notice - but because of its remarkable style rather than its size. The material that will make that style possible is called Gorilla Glass. Not only is it the hardest and most scratch-resistant TV screen surface out there, but its appearance is pretty cool, too.
"Many television set designers are creating 'edge-to-edge' designs, so the glass surface goes all the way to the end of the set," said Jim Steiner, senior vice president and general manager of Corning Specialty Materials, in a recent interview with Business Lexington. "With Gorilla Glass, you won't need a plastic frame or bezel around the TV. It will look like nothing but a screen. Gorilla Glass will provide protection for the TV."
Steiner said those TV screens will look thinner and be flush to the wall. "They're very sleek and look cool," he said.
Corning's Harrodsburg plant will play a major role in the production of Gorilla Glass, thanks to a recent expansion that will increase the Gorilla Glass business, at a cost of about $186 million. A second major expansion at the plant will support Corning's thin-film photovoltaic glass market.
"We anticipate growth in both of those businesses and that's why we're expanding," said Steiner.
The expansions will produce between 50 and 80 new jobs in Harrodsburg after the set-up is complete. They will primarily involve production jobs, such as glass making, inspection, packing, maintenance and perhaps a little engineering work.
"Corning does not release the total employment figures at our factories as a rule, but 50 new jobs are significant for us," said Steiner.
The Gorilla Glass manufacturing tank, in which the ingredients for making glass are mixed, will be operational at the Harrodsburg plant some time in the third quarter of 2011.
"Mercer County is just thrilled," said Milward Dedman, Mercer County judge executive. "Corning has always been a great community partner with us, so we're glad to have the additional jobs and revenues and everything that comes along with the expansion," he said.
To help entice Corning to expand in Harrodsburg, the state offered Corning $4.5 million in business investment incentives and up to $1 million in tax rebates related to construction costs. James Clappin, president of Corning's precision glass businesses, predicts that sales for Gorilla Glass could top $250 million this year and could come close to $1 billion in 2011.
The Corning plant opened in Harrodsburg in 1952 to manufacture ophthalmic glass for eyeglasses. Then when Corning got into the LCD (liquid crystal display) glass market in the 1980s, it expanded the Harrodsburg facility.
"We ran just LCD glass until 2007 when we began the Gorilla Glass initiative," said Steiner. "Today, all of the available production capacity we have there is devoted to Gorilla Glass."
The Harrodsburg plant's performance appears to have met Corning's expectations.
"From the beginning, Harrodsburg had been very effective in supporting our Gorilla Glass business," said Steiner. "The expansion was the fastest and most cost-effective way to get more capacity."
Steiner said that Corning relies on the Harrodsburg plant for its flat glass businesses.
"We find Harrodsburg to be not only a good production site but an excellent development facility for us to get businesses started, which is very important to us. The plant has responded terrifically," he said.
Steiner had never dealt with Harrodsburg before, but when he had a daunting task to complete in 2007, he challenged the plant.
"I came to them and said I need a set amount of glass within three months so we can enter this market, and they hit every requirement I had of them. It's just been a terrific experience," he said.
Gorilla Glass has its roots in a Corning product called Chemcor, the first ion-exchangeable (chemically strengthened) glass. However, Corning didn't find any major applications for it at the time.
"In 2006 we started working on a variation of Chemcor to use as cover glass on handheld telephones. So compared to the other glasses on the market, Gorilla Glass had the best damage resistance," Steiner said.
Corning supplies 20 different consumer electronics companies, and Gorilla Glass has been designed into about 225 different devices.
"We think about 100 million devices with Gorilla Glass in them have been released into the market," Steiner said.
Dedman said the expansion "speaks very strongly to Corning's commitment to stay in Mercer County," and he believes that Corning might also develop other products there, like a flexible glass product.
"They have always been generous to the community," he said. "When we had the local American Cancer Society Relay for Life, they had a team out raising money and doing the night walking. They have always been involved in community activities. They support our schools when they have needs. They've been good community partners."