Since 1962 Cardinal Glass Industries has been in business and today leads the industry in the development and manufacturing of residential glass for windows and doors. Over the past 60 years Cardinal has grown to employ 7,000 employees across 37 manufacturing locations across the United States.
The 600,000 square foot, eco-friendly glass manufacturing plant located in Winlock employs approximately 200 employees to create the ‘float glass’ that is produced there. Float glass is a sheet of glass made by ‘floating’ molten glass on a bed of molten metal. This method ensures uniform thickness, and is used to make glass for windows and doors. After the glass is made at the Winlock plant it will either go to Cardinal’s TG (Tempered Glass) plant in Chehalis for tempering or the CG Plant in Tumwater for Coated Glass treatment. The Winlock FG (Float Glass) Plant produces 648 tons of glass per day.
When Cardinal first started investigating building a plant in Winlock there were many mixed feelings and worries about how it would impact the community. Looking back over the past 16 years we can see the positive economic impact that Cardinal Glass has made on the community.
The Executive Director of the Economic Alliance of Lewis County, Richard Debolt, comments that “Cardinal Glass has created hundreds of jobs over the past decade. We are excited to have them as a partner in the community- they support so many local organizations that make us stronger together.”