(5/15) It’s a big window-filled
building that sits along Route 15 in
Emmitsburg. Not too surprisingly, this
glass-dominated structure is the home of
Emmitsburg Glass Company. Once a small company
consisting of four brothers and a
brother-in-law, the company has grown into
much more.
“For the first couple of years we did
subcontracted labor, home-improvement jobs to
create a paycheck,” said Dan Reaver, president
of Emmitsburg Glass.
Initially the company was headquartered in
vice-president Greg Reaver’s garage before
moving to the Castle Farms building on Sixes
Bridge Road. In those early years the
company’s name was Emmitsburg Panes, which
created a problem.
“Everyone thought we were a paint company,”
said Anne Reaver, human resources director. So
after 10 years, when the company started to
take on larger commercial projects, the name
was changed to Emmitsburg Glass Company and
Dan and his brother Greg took over and moved
into a new building on Creamery Way, which is
now the home of W.F. Delauter & Sons.
“Our first real glass job as a company was
the Sovereign Bank on Route 40 in Frederick,”
Dan said. “Then we did a small shopping center
in Washington D.C.”
Slowly, the company grew and after making it
through a plateau that lasted a couple of
years, the company started turning a profit.
“For the first 18 years the money went back
into the business, making sure that all the
employees got paid,” Anne said. “The owners
(Dan and Greg) put themselves last, which has
helped them sustain the business.”
Today Emmitsburg Glass Company employs
nearly 100 people, most of which are “very
happy,” Anne said, and the company has worked
on jobs all over the region, including some
major projects such as the University of
Maryland’s Comcast Arena and several in
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
In
2007 the company glazed three of Maryland’s
top 50 construction projects, including the
No. 1 top project, Harbor East Parcel B,
according to The Daily Record. The Harbor East
job, located in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, is
approximately 1,078,000 sq. feet with an
estimated cost of $232 million.
Despite the company’s growth and
achievements in the commercial construction
industry, the Reavers have maintained an
attitude of putting employees and the local
community first, which may be why the company
still exists today, 20 years later.
“We keep safety in mind and have a decent
salary and good benefits,” Dan said. “People
like the small town atmosphere here.” And the
company is committed to keeping that
atmosphere.
“We’re very community conscious,” Anne
said. “We grew up here and want to make sure
it stays a nice place to live and work.”
The company moved into its new 53,000 sq.
ft. state-of-the-art facility at 100 Creamery
Court in 2006. The project was awarded a
Community Development Block Grant which funded
infrastructure repairs to the town of
Emmitsburg’s water and sewage lines. The
repairs corrected a long-standing problem that
had severe environmental impact. The Frederick
County Business Advisory Council and the
Office of Economic Development awarded the
glass company’s headquarters as Frederick
County’s 2006 Development Project of the Year.
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