Viracon

Bringing class to glass, Viracon, a subsidiary of Apogee Enterprises, fabricates and installs architectural glass that has been treated with its glass-coating services. The company buys bulk, flat glass which then can be insulated, laminated, silk-screened, coated, or tempered for customers in the commercial and institutional glass market. Other end products include acoustical, blast-mitigating, heat-strengthened, spandrel, hurricane-resistant, and high-performance coated glass. Viracon has manufacturing facilities in Minnesota and Georgia. The company was formed in 1970 by James Martineau.

The company has been building, buying, and expanding its facilities every few years since its first plant in Minnesota was completed in 1970. That location has grown from the one plant into a massive industrial complex. Viracon also has a 300,000-sq.-ft. silk-screen plant in Georgia; its 210,000-sq.-ft. plant in Utah, which was completed in 2007, is expanding its production line to produce tempered glass.

The company experienced organizational changes in 2009. Don Pyatt, who has served as Viracon's president since 2000, plans to retire in 2010. Until that time, he will serve as Viracon's SVP of technology and strategy, reporting to the company's new president, Greg Silvestri, who is simultaneously serving as EVP at Apogee.

Seven of the 10 largest buildings in the world have Viracon energy-efficient glass installed in them. Over the past 30-plus years, Viracon has installed some 500 million sq. ft. of glazing in 100,000 buildings.