Edgetech I.G. Celebrates 20th Anniversary
December 1, 2009

Today at its Cambridge, Ohio, headquarters Edgetech I.G. celebrated its 20th anniversary. Among the company's "pioneers" in attendance were Michael Glover, the founder of Edgetech; Dale Lauren Foland, founder of Lauren International; Kevin Gray, chief executive officer of Lauren International and Edgetech's first president; and Mike Hovan, Edgetech's current president.

Hovan opened the ceremony with a quote from Gandhi: "A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."

"I think the reason we are here more than anything to is to celebrate those who were that original small body of spirits," Hovan said as he recognized and thanked many of the founding members of the Edgetech team.

Glover, an inventor and visionary behind Edgetech and the Super Spacer® product, said that in creating the product his, "thinking was that as low-E coatings grabbed market share there would be a need for low-conductive spacers." The product was invented in 1985 and in 1989 Edgetech became a fully owned subsidiary of Lauren Manufacturing.

"Lauren was an incredible company to work for and they opened their doors to us and were incredibly supportive," said Glover. "Dale [Foland] has a huge entrepreneurial spirit and, without any elaborate business plan or market study, accepted our ideas that warm-edge technology was a billion foot opportunity."

Foland, who also spoke about the history of Edgetech, shared an optimistic thought.

"This whole company, from this point on, represents the future and that's you. What it all comes down to is taking care of the customer-always," Foland said. "And the most important part of any business is trust; say what you can do, do what you say and be honest about it."

Gray also recalled much of what the early days of the company were like, and attributed much of the success and growth to creative thinking.

"There have been a lot of visionaries and a lot of people thinking and coming up with great ideas over the years," Gray said. "Now, with 20 years behind us, we have to keep our eyes focused on the future."

Looking at some of the challenge the industry is facing today, Gray encouraged everyone to take the time to think about how they can take those challenges and continue to be the leader.

"Have an attitude of continuous improvement. Everyday that you come to work leave knowing that you have helped improve the process. Everyday, find the ways to make minor improvements to the business," he said.

Hovan also took the opportunity to recognize and thank two other groups.

"We would not be here if it wasn't for our customer base as well as everyone here," he said.

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