Future uncertain for Charleroi glass plant
The sale of the shuttered Charleroi glass plant to a French-based industrial glass maker apparently has been blocked by the Federal Trade Commission.
In July, plant owner Anchor Hocking was said to have struck a deal with Sediver, a company that produces industrial grade glass. Sources close to the agreement said the company intended to invest $25 million to refurbish the 132-year-old plant, which produced its last Pyrex bakeware product April 10, and restore more than 250 jobs to the borough. Now, according to published reports, the FTC and state attorney general’s office will not support the sale because Sediver intended to produce industrial glass products rather than glass bakeware.
When reached Tuesday, both agencies declined to comment.
On its website, Sediver bills itself as the “global technical expert in overhead line insulation technology.” Its American headquarters are located in West Memphis, Ark.
Joe Manning, borough manager, said last week that he was unaware the deal had been halted.
“It’s disappointing for sure,” he said. “This administration (in Charleroi) has been trying to actively market that site from the time we heard it was going to close. It was always our hope that Anchor Hocking was going to reverse its decision and keep the plant open … I’ve had multiple corporations contact me that wanted to take that site. The holdup was that I couldn’t get anybody from Anchor Hocking to communicate with me at all.”
Manning said he has made inquiries with Sediver to confirm the sale, but never received a response.
Neither Sediver nor Anchor Hocking has returned calls.
Manning said he doesn’t understand why the FTC would block the sale because the new company was going to make a different type of glass than the previous operator.
“This came as a complete shock to me that the FTC would block that on what seems to me to be the most specious premise – they used to make consumer glass and now they’re going to make commercial glass,” Manning said. “I don’t understand at all what happened here.”
Charleroi Councilman Larry Celaschi also was puzzled by the FTC’s decision.
“I’m super disappointed,” Celaschi said. “I just never thought that this would occur, that the FTC would do this. I have no idea what (the FTC’s) logic is.”
State Sen. Camera Bartolotta said she has many questions that remain unanswered concerning the plant.
“Since July, I’ve been pushing as hard as I could, nonstop, to try to get this issue resolved, try to figure out what is the problem, what is the legal issue, what is the holdup, what is it the FTC expects Anchor Hocking to do?” she said. “I haven’t gotten those answers yet.”
Bartolotta said Sediver intended to make a $25 million investment that would equate to hundreds of jobs “in a tiny little town that’s lost so much recently.”
“I’m asking the FTC to find a way that we can move forward,” she said.
Daniele Byrne, vice president of United Steelworkers 53G, which represented workers at the Corelle Brands plant, called the whole situation “confusing.”
“Does that mean the FTC is still looking into it? I wish I knew more,” she said.
The borough and plant employees fought to keep the plant open from the time the announcement was made in September 2024 that operations would be moving to an Anchor Hocking plant in Lancaster, Ohio. The closure was delayed three times.
The plant opened in 1893 as MacBeth-Evans Co. Ownership has changed hands numerous times since. New York-based Centre Lane Partners was the owner of the plant at the time of its closure, following the acquisition of the appliances division of Instant Brands. Anchor Hocking is a company under the Centre Lane umbrella.
Celaschi remains optimistic that the plant can be revived in some form.
“Somebody is going to come to the forefront who’s going to realize the value down at that plant and they’re going to bring jobs,” Celaschi said.