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BUSINESS
Blenko resumes partial operation
The Huntington Museum of Art will host a Blenko Glass exhibit beginning January 26 in the museum's Switzer Gallery. All pieces in the gallery were blown in Milton and range in design from antique pieces to modern stained glass and whimzy pieces.
Purchase this photoMILTON -- Blenko Glass Co. announced Monday that it is resuming partial production in what was described as a tentative return to business.
"We're hoping we can make things work. It's tentative," Assistant Vice President Katie Trippe said. "We had such a good response from the community in the sales at the Visitors Center that we were able to (get things going again). And there were so many orders on file, it seemed like a bad business decision not to start it back up."
The hand-blown glass manufacturer, which has been in Milton since 1921, shut down production on Jan. 30 after its bank accounts were emptied by a gas company to which it owed $500,000.
Blenko was court-ordered in 2005 to pay the amount, but the glass company and Big Two Mile gas company could not come to agreement about how to make payments on the money owed. Blenko instead invested money into the company, hoping that it could turn a profit and begin to pay its debts.
Things were starting to look up when it was forced to shut down, Blenko officials say.
This week, workers will start the furnaces and get things into full swing by Thursday or Friday, Trippe said. Production employees won't all go back to work at once. They will work on a rotation to give everybody a chance to work, she said.
Blenko employs about 50 people. Workers in distribution and the Visitors Center have continued to work since the shutdown. Now production workers can come back.
"I'm ready to make some glass," said Randy Rider, a production supervisor and finisher for Blenko.
This is the sixth week since the shutdown, and he misses it, he said.
"This is all I've ever done, except for carrying out groceries when I was in high school," Rider said. "When you do it for 28 years, you love it or you wouldn't still be here."
Though the future is still unclear for the company, he remains hopeful and is glad everyone will have a chance to get back to work this week.
"We'll do what we have to keep everybody working -- rotate everybody in and out and keep it as fair as we can and still be productive," he said.
Most of the glass they'll be making is art glass for florists and gift shops throughout the United States.
"Retailers ordered them at the January shows," Trippe said. "It seemed not fair to have them order at a fair and not have the product they wanted for their stores."
The Blenko Visitor's Center will continue to remain open. For hours of operation or to place an order, call 877-425-3656.
West Virginia once boasted 500 glass factories, but now Blenko and Fenton Glass near Parkersburg remain as the state's two big glass manufacturers. Fenton almost shut down in 2007.
