Corning Inc. product line will create 185 new jobs

Corning Inc. will manufacture a new product known as Valor Glass in the Southern Tier, creating 185 new jobs in the process.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo traveled to Corning on Wednesday to announce New York state will provide more than $7 million to help Corning retool its Big Flats plant to manufacture the glass — which is used for packaging in the pharmaceutical industry.

Cuomo and Corning Inc. Chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks announced the plans at a gathering Wednesday at Corning's Sullivan Park Research Facility, where Valor Glass was developed.

"We have to create jobs for the future today. The old manufacturing is gone," Cuomo said. "There's no better model for that than Corning. You've done it all on your own. You've grown, you've evolved, you've changed.

"So it's not about yesterday, it's about tomorrow, and there is no better example of creating tomorrow's economy and tomorrow's jobs, and a better quality of life for people with the products you make, than Corning," he said. "I believe those 185 jobs is just the beginning. I believe in Valor Glass because I believe in Corning, its philosophy, and I believe in you, the people who make Corning happen."

Valor Glass has been in development for a few years, and is more resistant to damage, breakage and glass particle contamination than other pharmaceutical packaging, according to Ron Verkleeren, vice president and general manager of Corning Pharmaceutical Technologies.

The total investment in the project is $95.5 million and new jobs will be created at both the Big Flats Innovation Support Center and at Sullivan Park.

The Big Flats facility was built in 1958 and manufactured glass products in Corning’s Life Sciences business.

It stopped glass manufacturing in 2009, and in 2011 became the Corning Innovation Support Center, where manufacturing processes for new products are tested and refined.

Work is already underway to convert the Big Flats plant to start manufacturing Valor Glass and people are already being hired, Verkleeren said.

The total state investment of $7.75 million includes a $6 million grant for equipment purchase and infrastructure improvements, along with tax credits through the Excelsior program.

"Valor Glass was invented right here in the Southern Tier so it is only fitting our first significant manufacturing operation be located here," Weeks said. "Thanks to the Southern Tier strategic plan and Governor Cuomo's ongoing investment in this region through initiatives like the Upstate Revitalization Funding program, I believe the future of our community is brighter than ever."

Corning Inc. currently employs about 5,600 people in the Southern Tier region.

Wednesday's announcement was attended by dozens of local government and economic officials, many of whom expressed excitement over Corning's news, along with evidence that the Cuomo administration is committed to investing in upstate New York.

"This will be transformational. It's another significant invention by Corning," said Corning Enterprises President G. Thomas Tranter Jr. "We're very appreciative."

The investment will provide a major economic boost to the entire region, said Southern Tier Economic Growth President Michael Krusen.

"The multi-million dollar investment in the Big Flats facility and the 185 jobs averaging over $90,000 per year in wages will be a real shot in the arm to our local economy," Krusen said. "We are proud that Corning continues to show confidence that our local workforce can meet the challenges of providing high quality products in a competitive global marketplace."

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