Grant County, governor greet Guardian

Community turns out for groundbreaking of new fiberglass plant

MOSES LAKE - Guardian Building Products Executive Vice President Martin Powell has long wanted to locate a facility in his home state.

"I've wanted to build a plant in the state of Washington since 1984," he told gathered community members. "Why? One, this state has great growth potential. Two, by being in the state of Washington, Guardian will have a service and freight advantage over our competition since they're located in California and central Canada."

Ground broke Monday afternoon on a new Guardian Fiberglass, Inc., manufacturing plant in Moses Lake.

Part of the Guardian Building Products group of companies, the Guardian Fiberglass Moses Lake facility manufactures the complete line of Guardian's fiberglass insulation products for residential and commercial application.

The plant is a 500,000-square-foot-building and includes manufacturing and warehousing.

The plant creates 130 new jobs for the region and will have the capacity to run two lines.

Moses Lake was selected because of the availability of suitable land, reasonable utility rates, reliable power rates, a

quality work force and proximity to major transportation lanes, Guardian representatives stated.

Powell outlined the history of the company for those in attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony and explained Moses Lake gets a committed corporate citizen in Guardian. The business has a sound environmental policy and a tendency to get involved in the community, he added.

Grant County Economic Development Council President Bob Trask Jr. read a letter from council Executive Director Terry Brewer, who was in Las Vegas at a trade show.

"We started working on this project in mid-2004, and had our first site selection-related visit by a Guardian official late that year," Trask read from Brewer's letter. "Since that time, numerous members of Guardian Industries' team, from Michigan and South Carolina, have been out here on numerous fact-finding and issue-related trips. I am grateful that during all that time, they never gave up on us."

Moses Lake Mayor Ron Covey told the audience he could remember a time when Moses Lake was thought of as merely a stop to get gas or coffee along Interstate 90.

"Let me tell you, the times are a-changing," Covey said. "Moses Lake is on the move. It's on the radar screens not only in the U.S., but in several foreign countries. Ask yourself why."

Covey listed several reasons, including "innovative and progressive thinkers" operating at the Grant County Public Utilities District over the last 50-some years, offering inexpensive power and the construction of the fiber optics network, and the economic development council's efforts.

Covey also pointed to efforts on the part of Gov. Chris Gregoire's office, the council, the state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development, the council, Grant County and the City of Moses Lake to work together and obtain Transportation Improvement Board funds to construct a portion of Road N essential for the company to locate in Moses Lake.

"It is because of this partnering effort we stand here today ready to celebrate the construction of this wonderful project," Covey said.

Gregoire said Forbes Magazine recently ranked Washington as the fifth best state in the country to do business, reinforcing Guardian's decision to locate in state.

"We're not about local government or city or county or state," Gregoire said. "We're about all of us working together. We're about the mayor and the city council being a major player in making it happen, about the county council and the port sitting at the table, collaborating with no one thinking, 'I am more important or my territory is more important,' that we're all working together in the Washington way. This is a perfect example of when it works well, what it brings."

Grading for the plant begins immediately. Building construction begins in February 2008. The plant is expected to begin production in mid-2009.