USGlass -2008 January

Volume 43, Issue 1 - January 2008

News Makers

promotions
Columbia Commercial Building Products Hires for New Service Center
Columbia Commercial Building Products LLC in Rockwall, Texas, has announced several personnel changes in conjunction with the opening of a new DFW Service Center in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Alex Orr has been promoted to service center manager over the new facility. Orr has more than 33 years of industry experience.

Tommy Taylor has joined Columbia in the production control department, focusing on custom doors and hardware. He comes to the company with more than 22 years of industry experience.

James Tucker, the new sales executive covering the Houston and South Texas region, has more than 23 years of industry experience. Jorge Martinez has joined Columbia as the new West Coast sales executive.

Kelly Townsend has been promoted to national sales director after more than two years with Columbia as a sales executive. She has been in the industry for more than 26 years.

obituaries
Glass Industry Mourns the Loss of Don Vild
Longtime glass industry consultant Don J. Vild died on November 27 at the age of 79.

Vild graduated from Case Western Reserve in 1952 with a mechanical engineering degree, and in 1957 joined Libbey Owens Ford (LOF) where he served as director of architectural products and services. In 1982 he left LOF and started his own consulting business, which gave him the opportunity to work on several notable worldwide glazing projects including the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the Hong Kong Airport, the Cleveland Browns Stadium and a number of projects at the Toledo Zoo.

In addition, Vild was a member of several glass industry associations and has been credited for helping to make the Safety Glazing Certification Council (SGCC) what it is today.

For the past 50 years Vild has been an important part of the glass and glazing industry, and many industry professionals today credit Vild as a teacher, mentor and friend.