Glassopolis,the fabricator and distributor of specialty glass products,has won$100,000 in The Challenge competition sponsored by The Globe and Mail and Telus.The Challenge competition invited small businesses to present their business challenge and proposed solution to a six-member panel consisting of entrepreneurs,business writers and sponsors.Glassopolis was selected as the winner from more than 1,200 entries.
For the competition,Glassopolis presented its business plan to bring a new fire-rated glass product to the North American market.Its challenge was the need to upgrade some equipment in its production facility to handle the larger and heavier glass.The new product is FIRESWISS,a fire-resistive product that passes ASTM E-119 and the required hose stream test.It is a multi-laminate glass that does not bubble like gel-filled products,according to Glasspolis representatives.It is UL listed in several configurations that meet all the U.S.building code requirements,and is manufactured in Europe by Glas Trosch and distributed exclusively in North America by Glassopolis.
"We launched the marketing campaign for FIRESWISS just a few days ago at GlassBuild,so we are thrilled to win this competition now;it's perfect timing,"said Jordan Richards,president,Glassopolis,in a September 26 release."It will really jump-start our launch of this exceptional product."
"The award will help us purchase the best equipment to process our new product,"added Rob Botman,general manager,Glassopolis,in the release."At GlassBuild,we decided to buy a Putsch SVP1080 vertical saw.We will be the first glass company in North America with this machine.It will give us a capacity that even our biggest competitors don't have,"he said.
